Cuba's Amputee Cyclist Dreams of Gold
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, trains at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, adjusts his shoe before training at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 29, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, right, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, watches a documentary about him as he sits with his mother Madeleine Alfonos and brother Abel Cabrera at their home in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 29, 2012 photo, Madeleine Alfonso, the mother of Damian Lopez who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, is reflected in a mirror next to photographs of Damian when he was child, at their home in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, trains at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, center, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, prepares to train at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, center, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, sits with other athletes after training at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 29, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, feeds a pigeon in his backyard in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, trains at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
In this Jan. 26, 2012 photo, Damian Lopez, right, who was injured as a teenager by a high-voltage electrical wire when untangling a kite, trains at the Reinaldo Paseiro velodrome in Havana, Cuba. The accident cost him both his forearms, melted much of the skin from his face and left him in a coma from which doctors predicted he would never emerge. Twenty-two years later, Lopez, 35, is close to realizing an unlikely dream by representing Cuba at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, the sport that he says kept him from drowning in self-pity and despair. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)