Pete Flynn was 20 years old the summer of 2002. An active, champion athlete and college student, Pete was living with his mother in Escondido, California preparing for a bright future. A future dramatically changed by a single drunk driver in a single moment. Pete awoke in the hospital to find he had suffered a “complete” C-4/5 spinal cord injury resulting in quadriplegic paralysis.
Friends and colleagues immediately mobilized in support of Pete and his family. The “Fore Pete’s Sake” committee was formed and in September 2002 we held our First Annual “Fore Pete’s Sake” Benefit Golf Tournament to raise funds to help with the insurmountable expense of Pete’s rehabilitation. This event is held annually in September at the Escondido Country Club in Escondido, California.
The first “Fore Pete’s Sake” Golf Tournament in 2002 raised funds for equipment necessary to promote and maintain good muscle, bone and respiratory health – essential equipment not provided for by medical insurance. In 2003, the tournament raised funds to purchase an ERGYS 2 bike and travel expenses to St. Louis, Missouri where Pete had been accepted in a Christopher Reeve-funded clinical trial which will provide the clinical data needed for quadriplegic survivors to battle insurance companies for this life-changing rehabilitation. (The ERGYS 2 bike was used by Christopher Reeve in his rehabilitation.) The 2004 For Pete’s Sake tournament raised enough funds to provide a RampVan (pictured above), suited to meet Pete’s needs.
In 2006, Pete announced that he would be passing his tournament over to the QUAD Foundation, “so other quads could also benefit from the generosity of this community.”