Printable version
	E-mail this story

Original Hero Story

Steven Loignon / America Votes Ballot

Enlarge this photo

Steven Loignon

In 2001, Steve Loignon lost both legs when a car hit him head on while he walked to work. Pulling out of a month-long coma and enduring four more months in rehab, Steve created a resource initiative, Stepping Back Into Life, Inc. (SBIL), in the spring of 2003 to help empower other recently disabled persons. The initiative has become a valuable resource, providing information on rehab and support groups, education, retraining, scholarships, sponsors, and even information on insurance coverage.

Recently, Stepping Back Into Life, Inc. announced its third annual college scholarships, which will assist two physically challenged students further their educations and achieve their life dreams. This year, Charles S. Zook of Little Rock, Arkansas and Takahito Ishii of Tokyo, Japan, received SBIL $1,000 scholarships. SBIL founder and President, Steven Loignon, noted, “We want to help them educate themselves so they can have an easier and more productive life.” Suffering from a spinal cord injury, Zook entered the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2000. Currently, he is working toward a BA in Spanish with a minor in Biology. Zook noted of his return to school, “Someone in rehab told me that my injury would make me bitter or better, and the choice would be mine. I went back to school keeping those words in mind, and I’ve been getting ‘better’ ever since.”

This marks the second year in a row that international student Ishii has received the SBIL scholarship. Ishii, who has had epilepsy and cerebral palsy since age 11, attends Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, studying toward his BS degree in health education.
After graduation, Ishii plans to pursue a MA in occupational therapy. Of his impending graduate studies, Ishii notes, “I can offer two perspectives, from the view of an occupational therapist and of patient.”

Since Steven Loignon founded SB IL in 2003, and began its annual scholarship program in 2004, SBIL has bestowed two $1,000 educational scholarships each year to physically disabled individuals. Steve says, “The purpose of the scholarship program is to support people who are physically disabled and wish to attend college at any level.”

How You Can Help Steven Loignon
To learn more about Steven and his cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: www.loignon.com.