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Paralympian Jack Wallace on May 19, 2025Natasha Dye, Julie MazziottaWed, November 26, 2025 at 9:00 PM UTC·3 min readNEED TO KNOW
Paralympian Jack Wallace tells PEOPLE about his path to sled hockey glory after losing his leg at age 10
Wallace recalls meeting Paralympic gold medalist Josh Pauls, who inspired him to pursue the Games
Wallace credits his family for helping him deal with his accident "in a healthy way" by feeling "the right emotions at the right times"
Paralympian Jack Wallace had big dreams of being a professional athlete as a boy. "I played hockey growing up, roller hockey, ice hockey, street hockey," he tells PEOPLE. "It was always my favorite sport, that and football."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor a time, though, that dream seemed out of reach.
"And then I ended up losing my right leg above the knee when I was 10 years old in a boating accident," says Wallace, now 27.
The young athlete spent a year "in and out of the hospital," he recalls, "and then rehabbing and getting my first prosthetic."
The following summer, Wallace went to Camp No Limits, a program specifically for children with disabilities. It was there that he met a camp counselor who introduced him to sled hockey.
"I had no idea what that was, but I was like, I get to play hockey again and that's great."
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Paralympian Jack Wallace in the 2022 Winter ParalympicsWallace eventually joined a local team in Woodbridge, New Jersey, where an inspiring meeting with four-time Paralympic gold medalist Josh Pauls would give him the "epiphany moment" that put his dreams back on track, just with a twist.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"[Pauls] brought his gold medal from Vancouver [Winter Games 2010] back to the team, and showed me and my dad. And that was kind of the epiphany moment, of, you know, my dream two years ago was to be in the NHL and play for the Devils, and now, I can go be on the national team, compete in the Paralympics and win a gold medal, so that's where the dream shifted," he shares.
Wallace, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics, credits his family for helping support him through continuing to follow his athletic dreams. "Their support has been paramount," he says.
"Not only from when I was a kid, you know, waking up early, taking me to football practice, hockey practice, early mornings, late nights....but also truly their support through my accident."
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Jack Wallace on March 13, 2022 in BeijingRecalling his time in the hospital after the accident, "I think they did such a good job handling it and helping me understand the situation and helping me understand, you know, like, it's okay to feel all the emotions you're feeling."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Like, this sucks," Wallace continued. "I think they just really helped me deal with it in a super healthy way, not dwelling on it, and allowed me to feel the right emotions at the right times and then help me kind of, progress on my own in some times and give me the nudges I needed in others."
Now 100 days out from the start of the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games, Wallace and his Team USA teammates are all-in on going for their fifth-straight Paralympic gold. That means a ton of pressure, but Wallace says he "honestly looks forward" to the heightened stakes.
"It's gold or bust."
To learn more about all the Olympic champions and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Olympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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