Boerne athletes are on a roll. First, the Boerne Little League All-Star team made it to the U.S. finals of the Little League World Series. Now, Boerne has something else to celebrate—a gold medal from the Paralympics in Paris.
Dozens of Boerne residents gathered at Veterans Plaza Wednesday evening to welcome Para-archer Jason Tabansky, who managed to snag an open spot on the team when another Para-archer became injured.
Tabansky is no stranger to being viewed as a hero. He served 15 years with the U.S. Army as a helicopter crew member. He served two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq. His time in the Army, however, was cut short after he suffered a fall in 2015, which led to a spinal cord infection ultimately paralyzing him at age 32.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn’t for eight years ago, when I was an inpatient at the VA, some crazy guy approached me and said, ‘Hey, you should try adaptive archery.’ And I said, ‘Man, you're nuts. I'm never going to be able to do that.' And two other crazy guys said, ‘We don't ever want to hear you say never.’"
The retired Army sergeant said it was an honor to compete in his first Paralympics and attributes his success to others.
“Getting to a gold medal is not an individual thing as many people might think. Being on that stage there might’ve been a moment where I was alone, but I had a whole army behind me,” Tabansky said.
Tabasnky was greeted by a number of local dignitaries including Boerne's Mayor, the Kendall County judge and the Boerne Little League All- Star team that just got back from Williamsport.
He took a few minutes to give thanks to those who helped him succeed, including his wife and training partner, his mother, and a few friends who refused to let him give up on himself.
“When we got to the semifinal match, I told my coach, I said, ‘Hey, man, we're coming home with something already.’ And I said, 'I don't care what it is, we're coming home with something.' But after about five minutes, I looked at him, I said, 'Hey, we're not going to settle for second place. We're going to go out there and win it all.'"
Tabansky told TPR it takes years of shooting three to four hundred arrows a day before being able to shoot at an elite level. He only needed to score an eight to win. He scored a perfect 10.
Tabansky is an adaptive archery coach to children and adults with disabilities and works with Wheelchairs for Warriors.
