Unstoppable Spirit

Joy-Filled Athlete Kimberly Perry Inspires Everyone Around Her

Writer / Kevin Carr

As she approaches the foul line, she knows everyone in the gym is looking at her. She’s not fazed. She wears No. 1 on her jersey for a reason. She’s been here a hundred times. Her only goal is to put the Rehab Hospital of Indiana Racers one point further in the lead.

She takes a deep breath, dribbles twice, locks her eyes on the front of the rim and arches the ball toward the basket. Swish!

Kimberly Michelle Perry — her friends and family call her Kimi — turns around to play defense, navigating her wheelchair effortlessly between other athletes into the defensive half of the court. From jump ball to the final buzzer, the smile never leaves her face.

“Parents of players on other teams tell us they always root for their own kids, of course,” Kimi’s mom says, “unless they’re playing against Kimi. ‘We love rooting for Kimi!’ they say.”

Who wouldn’t want to root for Kimi?

Her enthusiasm and joy fill the gym. Knowing her story highlights just how remarkable she truly is.

Born with spina bifida, a birth defect where the spinal column fails to close properly, Kimi spent four years in an understaffed Chinese orphanage.

“I don’t remember China,” Kimi says.

Her first memory is when her adoptive parents, Mike and Kathy Perry, arrived to bring her home to Avon. The Perrys, who had grandchildren by the time they adopted Kimi in 2011, found room in their hearts to grow their family through adoption, inspired by their Christian faith in a time when they could have been excused for deciding to settle down and enjoy retirement.

The Perrys certainly didn’t choose an easy road. They understood they would encounter physical and developmental obstacles together.

As expected, Kimi has required multiple surgeries and hundreds of hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy to help her develop. Thanks to Kimi’s hard work and the unconditional love of her parents, Kimi has become an exceptional — and busy — young woman.

The first time she saw a wheelchair basketball game, she was hooked.

A family friend told the Perrys about wheelchair basketball.

“I went to a game,” Kimi says. “I was talking to the players, and they asked me, ‘Do you really want to play?’ I started spinning my chair around, and I said, ‘Yes!’”

She tried out and made the team.

Learning the game wasn’t easy. Kimi had to train to build the upper-body strength to launch the ball over the 10-foot hoop and the chair skills to keep up with the fast-paced action.

“At first, I didn’t know anything about wheelchair basketball,” Kimi admits. “My coaches had to teach me the rules.”

They are the same as basketball: five on five, four quarters, the highest score wins. Traveling is a turnover; players may push their custom-built sport chairs two times between dribbles.

“When she started playing, she was 8 years old,” Mike says. “She was 9-and-a-half when she made her first basket. It was during practice.”

Kimi kept practicing and playing.

“It got easier,” Kimi says. “I was so happy when I made my first basket in a game. All the fans were like, ‘Yay, Kimi!’ I was very excited.”

Her favorite basketball memory is when she scored a game-winning, buzzer-beater basket.

“Even my coaches were like, ‘Yeah!’” Kimi says, arms in the air and a smile across her face.

Scoring is a regular occurrence now, yet each celebration is just as genuine as the first.

The Perrys have traveled all over the U.S. for competitions: Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Last season, her team earned a bronze medal in the national tournament in Richmond, Virginia. This season, they look to improve that result at nationals in West Monroe, Louisiana. They’re shooting for a championship.

Kimi’s wheelchair basketball league is coed.

“The boys are big, and they can be rough,” Kimi notes.

Knowing she can be timid against boys, her parents encourage her never to hold back. During last year’s national tournament, Kimi got to play in an all-girls showcase.

“Kimi grabbed the tipoff, went down the court and scored,” Kathy recalls. “She stole the inbound pass and scored again.”

Kimi lit it up during the 10-minute scrimmage. Her parents wondered what had come over her.

“I don’t get nervous playing against girls,” Kimi says.

Kimi will get plenty of chances to play against the girls in the future. After this, her final season on varsity with the RHI Racers, she will join Cincinnati’s adult women’s team, the Dragons. Their coach — a wheelchair basketball player since 1999 and a former member of the U.S. National Team — has seen her play. He recruited her early.

Asked if she enjoys traveling, Kimi shrugs.

“I like to play basketball,” she says.

Minutes on the court more than make up for hours on the highway.

The trip she’s looking forward to most is the journey across the stage at Avon High School’s graduation in May. She plans to ditch the wheelchair and walk on her own power. She’s looking forward to shaking Principal Matt Shockley’s hand and posing for a photo with Superintendent Dr. Scott Wyndham, diploma in hand.

“One of the best things we did is to enroll her in Avon Schools,” Kathy says.

Kimi’s first day of school occurred with several weeks left in pre-kindergarten.

“We saw a huge change in her during those six weeks,” Kathy adds. “We wish we would have started her earlier.”

In addition to crisscrossing the nation with the Dragons, Kimi has big plans. She dreams of a job at Riley Hospital, where she spent so much time as a patient. She’ll continue practicing her violin; she’s been in Avon’s orchestra since fifth grade. She will keep teaching in the first grade Sunday school class she loves. She’d also love to meet her basketball hero, Caitlin Clark.

As they watch from the bleachers, Mike and Kathy beam with the immeasurable pride, gratitude and wonder of parents who have had a front-row seat to a miracle.

“You can’t stop her,” Mike says.

He’s right. You can’t stop Kimi. The courage, resilience, joy and faith that have brought her this far will propel her into an even brighter future.