Rising to the Challenge

From giving her rides to doctor's appointments, to having volleyball players watch her house, head coach Melody Simon has a group of girls who say they love her very much at Cheyenne High School.

In August 2000, Simon, a high school teacher and coach, underwent back surgery. The next thing she knew, she was paralyzed from the waist down.

She says her doctor incorrectly inserted a spinal tap to make the spinal fluid pressure even.

"He placed a needle in my spinal cord 15 different times and never got it right," she says.

Simon sued and eventually was awarded $1.3 million.

When fate handed her a life-changing challenge, Simon says she refused to let it make her any less of a person.

Emily Herdt, a senior on the volleyball team, says Simon has the "biggest heart in the world. ... She is amazing and helps us to excel on and off the court. Our (team) funds have been lacking and so out of her own money she bought us new jerseys and bags."

Going from what some people called an "intense softball coach," to being in a wheelchair and still excelling with her team has been both hard and easy.

"It is harder because I am a hands on person," Simon says. "I want to show the example. I now can see angles and plays of our opponents better from bellybutton level."

Herdt says she recognizes how much closer Simon now is with her players.

"She's down farther to the ground; she grabs your face and brings it right to her, more up close and personal," she says. "Some people may think, 'Wow a volleyball coach in a wheelchair?' But she isn't disabled at all. Her Olympic talent still shows through, she can hit some pretty hard down balls."

Simon's students say they are inspired by her every day.

"You cannot make a bad situation into who you are," the coach says. "You are who you are from everything you value and believe. Being reminded of this every time I wake up till I go to bed and even in my dreams, allows me to hold true to this idea. That makes me a better person. I hope I show that in the classroom and on the court."