Growing in adversity with song | Derek Mortland | TEDxMarionCorrectionalSalon 2013

Derek Mortland has had a devilish interest in motorsports from an early age. At 20, he enrolled in the California Superbike School to learn to race motorcycles. After receiving his race license he went on to achieve numerous successes, including multiple top 10 finishes at WERA Grand National Final Events and numerous National Endurance Series Events with multiple teams, including 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. Derek's career on motorcycles tragically ended in1997 when he suffered paralyzing injuries during a WERA National Endurance Race. Since that time, he has gone on to achieve success regardless of his disability by competing in wheelchair basketball, becoming a certified FAST Defense Combatives Instructor, and organizing disability conferences. He is currently assisting inmates through Win-Win Inc. and as a volunteer with the Horizon program. After TEDxMarionCorrectional he will work on his life goal of training his cats to perform on David Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks."