Oconomowoc's Laura Dwyer's journey from paralysis to Paralympics

When Laura Dwyer loaded her car with groceries, strangers would often come up to her and say, “You inspire me.” While Dwyer said she prefers the word "impact" over "inspire," she said she can understand the sentiment. Following a life-changing accident, it took the Oconomowoc resident over two years to grocery shop alone.

On May 29, 2012, while Dwyer was landscaping, a massive tree branch broke from 40 feet high, hit a powerline and then landed on her, Dwyer said. She became paralyzed from the waist down and needed to relearn most essential skills. "

It was hugely devastating," she said. Lately, Dwyer has been getting stopped for being an inspiration for a different reason: People watched her compete in the Paralympics. Dwyer finished fourth in the inaugural mixed doubles wheelchair curling event at the Milano Cortina Paralympics in Italy March 6-15, 2026.

She and her wheelchair curling partner, Steve Emt, from DeForest, narrowly lost 11-10 in extra ends in the bronze medal match. Through her journey, the 48-year-old said she wants to impact others.

“I want people to know that showing up for yourself is not hard," she said. ”

You are worth it. Everyone is worth it, and everyone has their own story." Dwyer said she had to change her thinking after the accident After her accident, with many tasks, Dwyer found herself saying, "I can't do this" or "I cannot do this anymore.”

For instance, once she mastered driving to and navigating the grocery store, she went home and just cried. How was she going to bring in those 13 bags of groceries? She figured it out eventually.

She has a big box in her garage that works like a tray that fits on her lap – it can hold one or two bags – so she can bring the groceries inside by herself independently in multiple trips. She then realized she could do everything – just differently. And her thought of "I can't do this anymore" became "I can't do this like this anymore," she said. ”

This is my new way." She made other adjustments. Her husband Chris built raised beds so she could still pursue her passion for gardening.

She lowered her essential canning tools to help her can pickles and dilly beans while sitting in a wheelchair.

“[That way of thinking] changed my outlook," she said. Dwyer explains how she became hooked on curling Right after her accident, Dwyer said her "driving force" was to be a mother to her two boys – Thomas, who was 4 at the time and Crandon, who had just turned 6. But as time passed, she felt a void in her life; what's there for just for her?

She started going to the gym, which helped. But in December 2019 she saw a flyer at the gym for an adaptive curling clinic at the Wauwatosa Curling Club and that changed everything for her. After attending that clinic, she learned about the Kettle Moraine Curling Club and the league play it offered.

She started curling there and she was hooked. Her love of sports came flooding back.

In curling, when she sets herself to throw the first stone, all eyes are on her, and the stadium is usually silent, Dwyer said. Her throw needs to be precise because it sets the strategy for the game. Because there's no sweeper in wheelchair curling, Dwyer said there's extra importance on the throw. It would make many nervous, but not her, she said. "

It feels no differently than pitching," said Dwyer, who set multiple school records as a pitcher on Arrowhead High School's softball team and later played a year at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. ”

It's up to you; you are in control," she said.

"[Wheelchair curling] pushes me. It feels [like] me." Everyone at the curling club took notice of Dwyer's 'tenacity to absorb the game' Dwyer went to the club many times a week and practiced throwing the stone repeatedly.

While she started as a clear beginner, she showed grit, competitiveness and wanted to be the best, Kettle Moraine Curling Club member Bob Dixon said. Dixon and his wife, Bonnie, another club member, watched her work at it. They knew how good she wanted to be. "

It was her tenacity to absorb into the game," Bonnie Dixon said. ”

It's her thing. She was right there with a grin on her face." Just three years after being introduced to wheelchair curling, Dwyer was the backup female – but did not travel – on the USA 4-member wheelchair curling team for the 2022 Paralympics.

With Emt, she placed second in the mixed doubles national championship in 2024 and first in 20

25. 2
26. She took second with a previous partner in both 2022 and 20
27. 2
28. She's competed in the World Championships since 2023, and her top finish was sixth on the mixed team competition in 2023, according to the Team USA website. "

She represents our country with dignity and gratefulness and a sense of grit. She does that from the community level and up," said Lou Kowieski, whose nonprofit, the Greatness Narrative Foundation, raised $35,000 to $40,000 to help Dwyer with her travel and other training and competition associated costs. ”

Her story is the American story," Kowieski said. "

Some people would have a hard time getting out of bed. When you see someone with higher hurdles than normal, it helps others." And in the process, it provides a positive energy for many people around her. "

She loves the people and the club, and we love her back," said Bonnie Dixon. Dwyer has helped others take up wheelchair curling When Tabitha Althoff wanted to try wheelchair curling, Dwyer was front and center at the Kettle Moraine Curling Club to make it happen, Althoff said. Before that, Althoff, a Carroll University professor and Advocate Aurora Health employee, was not sure it could even work due to her physical limitations.

Althoff said she is in a wheelchair due to having Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition that can cause joints to dislocate. She also has ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis that can cause the bones in the spine to fuse.

“I was trying to find something different, more fun to mix up the day," Althoff said. She also needed to be in a cold environment due to her health. Through Dwyer, she learned about wheelchair curling.

But learning how to deliver the stone was a challenge. So Dwyer and other curling club members found different ways for Althoff to deliver it while applying the least amount of joint pressure; Althoff put on all her braces and delivered the stone from the center of her body, pushing with both hands. "

They would all brainstorm and figure it out," she said. Dwyer kept telling Althoff that "there has to be a way," Althoff said. Now, curling has changed her life. ”

It gives me a purpose," Althoff said. She said everyone is there regardless of their physical ability with the goal of having the same fun. ”

And [Dwyer] cheers you on," Althoff said. "

She has been amazing on showing what you can do.