About Joon
Joon Reid, or “J,” is a recreation assistant and sous chef at Lakeshore Foundation as well as a left leg above-the-knee amputee.
J had his leg amputated after a plane crash at the age of four. His light-hearted sense of humor and positive outlook on life inspire him to live life to the fullest by following his passions of food and adapted sports.
Joon Reid on Ableism
[00:00] Growing up, my mom never really told me like I couldn’t ever do anything. She'd always let me figure it out myself. But then, you know, people would tell me, like, you can't do that because of my one leg. And so it becomes into, well, I'm going to prove you wrong. And then I do it. They’re again surprised that I was able to do it as good or if not better than someone else with two legs. And that's, that’s a little gratifying in a sense to be able to prove prove someone wrong in the sense that, like, just because I have one leg doesn't necessarily mean that I can't do the same thing that you do.
[00:32] And to have physical sports that people in wheelchairs and other disabilities are able to play and keep it as real to the sport in a sense, you know. The adaptations are definitely having to be made. I think it opens up a whole world of possibilities to have adaptive sports to where people with disabilities can can participate in them, whether it just be a rec sport or competitive sport.