I ND UST RY LE A D E R
MICHAEL HUGHES HAS BEEN GETTING READY TO TAKE ON THIS ROLE FOR A LONG TIME Written by: DOUG HENSLEY
It’s almost as if Michael Hughes had been preparing his entire life for this job. First there were significant family influences, and then there were open doors at just the right time. When the stars finished aligning, Hughes found himself part of the executive team at Motion Composites, serving as the company’s U.S. national sales director. “I have a couple of family experiences in my life,” he said. “I have a second cousin, who I have always thought of as an uncle. He was a Marine and a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Then four months The Hughes family photo f rom fall 2023. after he got home, he was in a car accident that left him with a T-7 spinal cord injury and using an ultra-lightweight wheelchair for the next 50-something years of his life.”
THE CHANGE TO ULTRALIGHTWEIGHTS HAS ALWAYS APPEALED TO ME. I HAD MORE OF A POWERCHAIR BACKGROUND BEFORE.
What Hughes saw, though, wasn’t someone confined to a wheelchair, but instead someone able to live life to the fullest because the wheelchair opened pathways of accessibility. “He helped teach me how to swing a golf club, how to shoot a basketball, and he did all from a wheelchair,” Hughes recalled. “That ultra-lightweight wheelchair allowed him to live life. He played wheelchair basketball for the Chicago Bulls affiliate. He was extremely inspirational to me.” The same is true for another second cousin, whom Hughes has watched battle muscular dystrophy. Michael Hughes is coach in the spring of 2023 of his children's T-ball team.
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DIRECTIONS 2023.6
