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Mormon Tabernacle Choir Benefit Concert Helps Colorado Disabled Iraqi War Veteran and National Sports Center for the Disabled Athletes

Posted on: Thursday, 4 June 2009, 17:11 CDT

--Monday, June 29, 2009 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre--

--Choir's first appearance in 25 years at Red Rocks--

DENVER, June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) will host a benefit concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo. on Mon., June 29, 2009. Over 23,000 athletes are served annually through the NSCD. One such athlete who will be benefiting from this concert is disabled war veteran and Colorado native, Jonathan Luhan, who is a member of the NSCD elite competition center and is currently training to compete in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games.

The Choir's performance, which is held the Monday before the Fourth of July, will include a salute to the military. Lujan, who will be in attendance for the concert couldn't be more thrilled about The Choir singing in honor of the military.

"It's humbling to be grouped with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir," said Lujan. "The name sells out tickets and that's good for the NSCD."

Jonathan Lujan was skeptical whether or not he'd be able to run again, or if he'd ever be able to walk. Lujan had been active in both winter and summer sports, but all of those days looked to be behind him as he laid in a hospital bed after enduring back surgery that left him paralyzed from the waist down after his unit came under enemy attack.

Through rehabilitation, Lujan was able to go from using a walker to now being able to walk on his own while wearing leg braces. Through programs offered by the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) and the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, Lujan has been able to hit the slopes of the Rockies once again.

"It never even crossed my mind that I'd be able to run or golf, let alone ski," Lujan said. Lujan returned to skiing in part due to the NSCD programs dedicated to disabled veterans. The Salute to Troops ski program offered by the NSCD is just one of the many programs benefiting the disabled.

Despite overcoming his disability and doing things he never thought he'd do again, Lujan is modest about his accomplishments.

"If my story inspires one person to ski then that makes me happy, but that's not my goal," said Lujan.

The NSCD is one of the largest outdoor therapeutic recreation agencies in the world. Each year, thousands of children and adults with disabilities take to the ski slopes, mountain trails and golf courses to learn more about sports - and themselves. With specially trained staff and its own adaptive equipment lab, the NSCD teaches a variety of winter and summer sports and activities to individuals with almost any physical, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral diagnosis.

SOURCE National Sports Center for the Disabled

Source: PR Newswire

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