In 1992, Jared Funk was one of six starters on the Niverville Panthers high school volleyball team. Now, just three years later, the 21-year-old is an inspiration to all around him as he prepares to travel to Europe as a member of the Canadian quadriplegic rugby team .

Just months after Funk graduated from high school in 1992, his life changed forever when he became quadriplegic after a car accident in Winnipeg. As a passenger in a car that was struck by another vehicle on the Pembina Highway, he was the only one injured.

Funk spent 8 1/2 months in the hospital and rehab after the accident. “I had fun in the hospital,” he told Carillon sports editor Terry Frey in a recent interview.

Funk said that during his time in the hospital, he made many friends. Friends he still has today.

They had similar predictions. In a sense, the hospital became a safety net for Funk as he went through a grueling rehab and developed a close relationship with his new friends.

Many things doctors told him he would never do, he already does, like driving his own car and not using specially designed utensils for eating.

Jared Funk is driven by pessimism as he continues daily to prove doctors wrong with the little things.

While in the hospital, Jared realized that due to the extent of his paralysis, he would probably not play sports in the future. But a friend at the hospital told him about quad rugby, a sport for quadriplegics.

It is played on a basketball court, four against four. According to the rules, each player on the team has a different handicap level. Funk has the least mobility on his team.

He started playing the sport earlier this year and was part of Team Manitoba’s 10-player contingent at the Canadian Championships in Winnipeg in May. Manitoba finished third at the national championships.

Trials for the national team were held at the end of the championship and his teammates encouraged him to try out for the national team. He didn’t give himself much of a chance, but was eventually named to the Canadian team.

This will be Funk’s first trip to Europe, a 10-day excursion to Notwil, Switzerland, near Zurich, for the world championships.

Funk, one of the Panthers’ top AA high school volleyball players, coached the Niverville high school girls volleyball team for the past two years, leading the team to the provincial championships in 1993.

He’s not coaching this year because he doesn’t have time. He is as busy, if not busier, than many other young people his age. Funk is currently in his second year studying education at the University of Winnipeg.

He enjoys new freedom in a car specially equipped with manual brake and accelerator controls. Since finally getting his driver’s license two years after his accident, after a fairly arduous process with the Manitoba Motor Vehicle Branch, he has driven approximately 70,000 kilometers, including a trip to northern Saskatchewan with friends. He also goes to school in Winnipeg every day.

The Niverville athlete says he was inspired by a meeting he had with Rick Hansen earlier this year.

“I love what he did, traveling the world in a wheelchair.”

A common occurrence over the summer saw Jared walking around Niverville in his new marathon chair, and one of his friends following him in his spare chair, or jogging alongside or on a bike.

Jared and a few able-bodied friends will all go to the movies, in wheelchairs. He says it’s a lot of fun watching his friends try to maneuver a wheelchair.

“I like to push myself; I hate things that limit me.