Austinite competes to be a Paralympian

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Olympic Games begin Friday, and it's also important to remember the Paralympic Games that take place at the end of August in London.

An Austin woman set out last month to try and make that team.

"I'm definitely on my bike for an hour at least, it can be anywhere from 12 to 20 miles," said Jamie Schanbaum.

Jamie Schanbaum used to only get on her bike to commute to school. Now she's on it everyday - training to be a Paralympian.

"I would definitely say I'm in better shape then I once was -- for sure," said Schanbaum.

It's hard to tell, but Schanbaum is riding her bike with two prosthetic legs. Her fingers are gone as well.

In 2008 when she was 20, Schanbaum. contracted meningitis while she was a student at the University of Texas.

"At 8 p.m. I was fine, at 10 a.m. the next day I was incapable of walking, and I was insanely cold. I couldn't retain any warmth and was shivering out of my mind. I knew something was wrong," said Schanbaum.

For seven months she laid in the hospital bed while doctors tried to save her life.

"I had to watch my limbs turn from a red rash, to purple, to black, to rotting off - I had to watch my limbs just sit there," said Schanbaum.

Doctors eventually took her legs below her knee.

"You have so much doubt about life and what to expect and then you just meet the right people," said Schanbaum.

That right person is St. David's Occupational Therapist Bob Whitford.

"Early on I told her she was going to be an athlete and I just planted that seed and left her to think about it," said Whitford, St. David's Occupational Therapist.  "One of the first questions I ask is what do you like to do besides work or school and Jamie liked to ride a bike.”

Bob put her on an adopted tricycle and for the first time doubt about life turned to inspiration to become a Paralympian.

"Bob was a good inspiration," said Schanbaum.

Turns out Bob knows a thing or two about being a Paralympian.

After losing his arm in a farming accident when he was four - he went on to ride for the Paralympian Cycle Team for 12 years.

And while Schanbaum. placed third at the qualifying trials in June - only the top two spots made it to the Paralympics.

Now their sights are set four years down the road.

"We're already looking father down the road Rio de Janeiro in 2016," said Whitford.

If Schanbaum.'s name sounds familiar it's because there's a law named after her.

The Jamie Schanbaum Act was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry that requires all new college students to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis.