from the saddle
Two years ago, drug cartel thugs hacked off Carlos’s legs for refusing to pay monthly extortion demands of up to $10,000. He was left for dead as an example to other business-owners. Carlos and his family fled to El Paso immediately following the attack. It was in El Paso where Carlos learned that he was not alone. “Since 2008 more than 100,000 Mexican citizens have fled the violence and sought refuge in El Paso,” said Carlos
Spector, an immigration attorney who represents Carlos and started an advocacy nonprofit called Mexicans in Exile, which seeks to protect victims of violence and to denounce the human rights violations in Mexico. An avid basketball player and swimmer, Carlos began riding his bicycle after prosthetic legs were generously donated to him by PrimeCare Orthotics and Prosthetics in Las Cruces, NM. “I would ride at night,” Carlos said. “After my wife
and kids went to sleep, I would ride as fast as I could to the outlet mall to clear my head and get exercise.” Studies have shown that physical activity, like bicycling, can relieve anxiety caused by post traumatic stress disorder. “When I first met Carlos he was in a wheelchair and spoke very little,” Spector said. “Then one day he walked into my office and said he wanted to do a bike ride to Washington D.C.” to raise awareness about the increasing violence and AMERICAN BICYCLIST 9