Challenged Athlete & Retired Naval Officer Steven Peace shares his life story

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Back in 2006 Steven Peace was a Naval Officer who had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan three times in the previous five years.

On October 16, 2006, one week before his fourth deployment, he suffered a massive stroke and was alone on the floor of his home for 14 hours before help arrived.

The massive stroke left Steven unable to speak, use his right arm or leg or to walk independently. The doctors still have no idea what caused the stroke, but it forced Peace to leave the Navy after 16 years of service.

Steven spent three months in the hospital. He found CAF and Operation Rebound in 2009 and in 2010 he competed in the World Cycling Championships in Canada and in 2011 he took the Gold Medal in the Pan Am Games.

When Steven started to ride a three wheeled trike, there were something like three of four of those bikes available in the US. Steven has helped so many people find that the Trike is perfect for their needs.

In 2012 Steven competed in London in the Paralympics where he took fifth and seventh. He is a nine time Paracycling US National Champion and has medaled in UCI World Cup Races 25 times. He has also completed our 625 mile San Francisco to San Diego Million Dollar Challenge Bike Ride 8 times!

Steven also created Peace Cycling Performance and there are currently six athletes on his team.

Steven says he loves the fact that he is able to check the ‘elite athlete’ box on our CAF grant application since it’s something he couldn’t do before his stroke but he certainly can now!

Steven Peace joined KUSI’s Paul Rudy on Good Morning San Diego to share his story.