John Siciliano
John Muir Siciliano was born in 1971 near Pittsburg in the small town of Butler, Pennsylvania. He is the youngest of nine children. At the age of nine, John’s mother unexpectedly passed away and he experienced his first tragic loss. As a child, John was a devoted Pittsburgh Stealer fan, and he began playing sports religiously. When he started high school, he discovered a new love, acting. He quickly discovered it was a way to escape the burdens of life by portraying other characters. It turned out that not only was he good at sports, but he was equally talented in dramatics.
After graduating from Springdale High School, John attended Point Park College, in downtown Pittsburgh where he began studying theater and journalism. In 1992, he received a soccer scholarship and became captain of the newly developed team there. Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, tragedy struck again in 1993. A drunk driver ran a red light and struck the jeep in which John was a passenger. He was thrown from the car and seriously injured.
When he awoke in a hospital bed the next day, he found himself in a neck brace with a tracheotomy tube in his throat and his hands strapped to the bed railings to prevent him from looking down at his legs. He knew that something was terribly wrong. Three days later, surrounded by friends and family, John was told that it had been necessary to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee.
During the next four months, John worked hard with his physical therapist to prepare his residual limb to be fit with a prosthesis. After being fit with his first prosthesis, he continued physical therapy for the next two months and learned how to walk again. He started slowly, walking first in parallel bars, then using two canes, then one cane and finally completely unassisted. In January of 1994, he was ready to resume his life, now using a prosthesis. He desperately missed athletics and theater so he enrolled again at Point Park College. But now he wondered if he could ever make a career out of his two passions.
Several months later he read a brochure about amputees competing in track and field events. He met several amputee athletes and saw that it was possible to be competitive as an amputee athlete. After getting a special prosthesis designed for running, John began training and set a huge goal for himself…represent the United States as an athlete in the 1996 Paralympic Games.
During the Paralympic Trials in Atlanta he broke the 200 meter record in the T-42 classification and earned a spot on the United States Paralympic Team. He spent the next few months prior to the Games training vigorously everyday. Lining up in the starting blocks at the 1996 Paralympic Games, John took a brief moment to reflect on his accomplishments since his tragic accident just three years earlier. He achieved his goal and proudly wore the Team USA uniform as the 200 meter race was about to begin.
It was a very hot day with high humidity. “All of the athletes were sweating under the harsh conditions”, said Siciliano. The gun went off and the eight athletes shot out of the blocks. “I felt my leg start to slip off in the first 20 meters but I just concentrated on the race and ran my hardest. But 50 meters later it came off completely and I went down hard”, he recalls. John refused to give up, so he threw his prosthesis over his shoulder and finished the race hopping on one leg.
John returned to Point Park College and completed his degrees. He received the “Swim with Mike Scholarship” to attend USC theater graduate school. As he pursued his master of fine arts degree, John had the opportunity to write and act in his life story in an “Off – Off Broadway” play entitled “Siciliano.” He teamed up with the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped, directed by Brother Rick Curry S.J., to bring his inspirational story to the stage. The play received national exposure in USA Today, People Magazine and on the national news program 60 Minutes.
John has been featured on numerous programs including the Fox Family Channel show “Courage”, the Discovery Health Channel, a national Verizon commercial and the hit TV show “ER”. He also appears in the feature film, “The Wager,” starring Bert Young and Priscilla Lee Taylor, scheduled to be released soon.
When John is not acting on stage, television or in movies, he can be found working out in the gym and running. He currently is using the Hanger Complete System, which includes the patented Hanger ComfortFlex™ Socket and the Otto Bock C-Leg knee system. John now spends a lot of time working with young amputee athletes, teaching them the importance of proper fitness while using a prosthesis. He works closely with physical therapists to help them understand the emotional and physical challenges that face new amputees. And is regularly asked to speak at school assemblies, educating children about disabilities and how they can be overcome.
“ When your disability gets you down, try to remember that things could always be worse and be very thankful that you still have your mind, heart and soul.”
John Siciliano, 1996