Cortlinn is a student from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. She’s a Florida gal to the core. So Colorado snow is bringing her new adventures as a first year athlete at Extreme Mobility Winter Camp.nOne could hear her scream of glee as she raced down the tubing hill with snow plastering her face. “It was so cold! I couldn’t feel my face for an hour,” she giggled. “And I really like it!”n“It’s so cool getting to do all kinds of things I’d never have a chance to do if it were not for XMO!”n“Driving the snowmobile was amazing,” Cortlinn exclaimed. “I’ll never be able to drive a car and it’s so cool just to drive anything.”n“Many of the athletes at XMO come from homes who are afraid to let us do things, But at XMO the trainers encourage us — push us — to try new things. And we’re finding we can do more than even we thought we could do,” she said.n“Please tell the people who make Extreme Mobility possible thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to do things we could never do otherwise,” Cortlinn gushed.n

Donnie Buie, an upbeat optimist, hails from Harrisburg, PA. He first came as a Winter Games athlete in 2012. Donnie lost total vision in his right eye to retinoblastoma when he was 4 and in his left eye when at 7. This is first year at the XMO experience.nAs he boarded his flight in Baltimore for the three and half hour flight to Denver, he found his aisle seat. Seated next to him was a mom and her young son. She asked if Donnie would mind sitting in the window seat. “Oh no,” he said, “the view is much better by the window!”nDonnie’s a student at Harrisburg Area Community College earning top grades as he pursues a Social Services degree. “My freshman year was really tough,” Donnie said, “but — excuse the pun — it was an eye opening experience.” [Accented by his outgoing laughter.]nHe plans to go to law school. “I want to be an advocate for battered kids.”n“So, what do you think of XMO events high in the snow of the Rocky Mountains?” “This place is the truth! I’m making new friends, learning new things and eat’n a lot of food!” says Donnie. “I want to come every year—if my education doesn’t get in the way!”n“I can’t wait to clock 90 on the snowmobile tomorrow! I’ve never driven anything before.”n

We met Monzie when he was a 15 year old angry kid that had just lost his sight in a gang shooting. His mom, dad, and sister were all murdered shortly before he lost his sight. He’d been a “special education” student when he first came to Winter XMOGames. With the help of his teacher (also a volunteer for XMO), he became a straight A student. He went on to the University of Tennessee where he completed a double major. He’s now a Deputy Sheriff in Nashville, and a NFL sports agent, representing many well-known athletes. He has given credit to XMO for giving him the opportunities that he thought were lost to him after his accident. He has become a tremendous advocate for XMO.

Corey, and avid athlete, loved to snowboard and wakeboard. At 24 he was involved in an alcohol related motor vehicle accident. He was in a coma more than two months and not expected to survive. When he woke up, he’d totally lost his vision, and his right leg was amputated below the knee. He was totally unable to accept the challenges he faced. He remained in angry denial and was unwilling to share his fears when he came to his first Winter XMOGames in 2008. However, during the 2008 Summer XMOGames at Lake Powell he opened his heart and began his emotional healing. You would not believe Corey is blind today if you could watch him wakeboard and snowboard! Corey has become one of Extreme mobility’s greatest advocates and speakers. He shares his story at a wide variety of venues-especially high schools. You can check out his journey on his website www.ridewithcore.org

“I want to thank you for putting on this amazing camp. I have been going through a lot these last two months. I was diagnosed with depression and have attempted suicide. This letter is about XMO camp though and I just wanted to tell you how helpful this camp has been. This camp is a great experience for anyone. I just wanted to tell you to never stop having this camp because it touches so many people even if they don’t tell how much it helps them. P.S. Very few people know that about me but I just wanted to tell you guys to explain how helpful this camp is to it’s athletes, even if they are not very religious or social. Thank you very much. A very greatful athlete.”