Kory Puderbaugh is training for gold. Gold not just for him, but his country. The quad amputee is headed to Rio to play wheelchair rugby. But before he was scoring goals, he was a student at Lowell Scott Middle school. He soon found himself living full-time with a teacher. Born into an orphanage in Poland, his adopted family moved away, but he wanted to stay in the treasure valley.
"Technically when he lived with us he was homeless student," explained Kory's host parent and middle school music teach John Cochrane, "He lived in a place with adults who were neither his foster parents or his guardians. He just lived with us as a guest."
Kory soon found himself wrestling, but it didn't take him long to find another sport, Murderball. Wheelchair Rugby.
"I didn't want to do it initially because it was in a wheelchair and I had the notion that people in wheelchairs didn't do much," Said Kory.
Kory now plays professionally in San Diego but will soon be headed to Rio to play with the U.S. national team. And his host family here in the Gem State is going to be there with him.
"They announced it on Sunday we bought our tickets to Rio on Monday. Because we all knew he would do it," said Cochrane.
With Kory getting ready for Rio, John and his family don't want him to get distracted or even worry about paying the bills. They've set up a go fund me page so he can stay focused on the sport and not have to worry about money.
"That's what were raising this money for so he has that covered and he can focus on his athletic challenges," explained Cochrane
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