Edmond athlete heads to Beijing

By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

EDMOND, Okla. - An Edmond man has made the list of U.S. athletes heading to Beijing.

T.J. Pemberton is a member of the eight-man Paralympic archery team. The Paralympics provide competition opportunities for disabled athletes. He competes in dozens of shooting events a year traveling from Korea, to Italy and now to China. Pemberton is one of the first Oklahomans to make the Paralympic team. 

"I think it's great that a little small town boy can travel and represent our country," he said. "I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would be going to China."

Six years ago Pemberton was involved in an ATV crash while deer hunting in southeast Oklahoma and lost part of his leg. He said he was traveling on a gravel road at night.

"My head lights went out and I went 442 feet off a mountain, ended up breaking nine bones, pretty bad brain injury, and bruised both my lungs," he said. "I have a little motto I tell people. I say ‘never stop and never quit no matter what.'"

The 2008 Paralympics are Sept. 6-17, two weeks after the Olympic Summer games.