<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3Lj5AU_1Gu1waLE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Lj5AU_1Gu1waLE00" width="400" height="500" ><figcaption>TITAN: Gerry Bertier was paralyzed in a car accident on Dec. 11, 1971, and killed in a second collision on March 20, 1981. He was 27 years old.&nbsp; Bertier family photo</figcaption></figure>If you’ve seen the movie Remember the Titans, you know the name Gerry Bertier. He was the hard-hitting linebacker and team captain who held a newly integrated Alexandria, Virginia, team (T.C. Williams High School) together in 1971, and the young man whose funeral is shown at the beginning and end of the film.Fact checkThe production, starring Denzel Washington, hit emotional notes throughout, but as many Hollywood stories do, they took liberties with the truth.On screen, Bertier is hurt in a car crash before the state championship, and his teammates win the nail-biting title game for him. In real life, he played in that game. T.C. Williams beat Andrew Lewis High School 27-0. The Titans had one close game that year, finishing 13-0, shutting out nine opponents, outscoring them 356-45, and ranked second in the nation among all high school teams. They were a monster, but there’s not much drama in that, so Disney changed the story.Bertier: the heart of that defenseHe was named National Prep School Player of the Year and a first-team All American. As a result, he received scholarship offers from two of the biggest "football factories" in the nation, Notre Dame and the University of Alabama.Both are major suppliers of players to the National Football League. Bertier’s future could have been four years of major college football, then on to the NFL. It wasn’t to be.The night that changed his lifeOn Dec. 11, 1971, the team held its season-ending banquet. Afterward, he borrowed his mother's new Chevrolet Camaro and drove friends home.He was only six blocks from his own house when the car went out of control. No other driver was involved, unlike in the movie, and the accident was traced to a broken motor mount. The Camaro hit a fire hydrant and a concrete-filled school sign before landing in a ditch. Bertier was alive but paralyzed from the chest down (not the waist, as in the film).Flat on his back and tangled in tubes, he refused to let his mother feed him. He struggled to do it himself, and it was an example of the self-reliance and spirit he would become known for.What people couldn’t seeIt took Bertier two years to accept that he would never walk again. He showed a brave face to family and friends but confided his dark moments to Bill Yoast, who had been his longtime coach.Yoast recalled that Bertier once came to him so low that he spoke of ending his life. Yoast told him he had been great not because of talent, but because of perseverance, and that he was letting what he couldn't do stop him from doing what he could. Yoast’s words hit home for me. How about you?The turning pointOne day Bertier’s mother found him sitting up in his wheelchair, and he told her, "I don't care if I'm paralyzed. God left me with my brain, and I'm going to use it to help people less fortunate."She would later write that those words made it the best year of her life.Powerful words led to actionLocal hospitals began calling him about newly injured patients who were depressed. He would roll in and pop a wheelie at the foot of the bed, giving them living proof that life was not over. When those patients went home, he went with them and helped them learn to live and rehabilitate there.He organized a "Walk for Mankind" with the local Jaycees and once covered 30 miles in his wheelchair for a fundraiser. He then became a medical equipment salesman and studied business at Northern Virginia Community College.Back to athleticsSince childhood, Bertier had dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal. Ironically, his paralysis opened the door to him achieving his objective.Competing in wheelchair track and field, sometimes called the "Wheelchair Olympics," he won gold medals in the shot put and discus and set state and national records. He played wheelchair basketball, too, and represented the United States at the international wheelchair games in Scotland.Then he took on the worldThe world’s barriers, that is. Steps without ramps, curbs that blocked wheelchair access, checkout lanes too narrow for a chair, and restaurant booths that didn’t fit one.Bertier met with local and state officials and traveled the country speaking for the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, urging that buildings be opened to people with disabilities.His name isn't on the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed in 1990, but he was part of the broader grassroots movement of the 1970s that kept asking for access, one ramp, one aisle, and one city council meeting at a time. That movement helped make the ADA possible, turning what he asked for into the law of the land.The cruelest twist of allOn March 20, 1981, Bertier was driving home alone from a business trip. Near Charlottesville, a northbound car crossed the center line and struck him. He died shortly thereafter at the University of Virginia Hospital. He was 27. The other driver was charged with manslaughter and drunk driving.A young man who had rebuilt his life after one car crash was killed in another one.Virginia's General Assembly honored him, his name went on the T.C. Williams gym, and his No. 42 was retired.What Gerry Bertier taught usThe words “grit” and “resilience” are overused in our society today. I’ve often used them in my training courses, but they don’t seem to be enough when you match them up to the real-life example Bertier displayed.He gave hope to the suddenly hopeless, and he knocked down barriers for millions as he once tackled opponents on the gridiron.He accomplished more during nine years in a wheelchair than most will in a lifetime without physical limitations.Indeed, this was a Titan worth remembering. Let him be an example for all of us to be more and to do more.Jerry Roberts helps workers and organizations of all sizes to grow, both in business and government. Visit guamtraining.com for transcripts from his 7.5 years of daily commentaries heard on The Ray Gibson Show on The Point, 93.3 FM.</div></body>

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If you’ve seen the movie Remember the Titans, you know the name Gerry Bertier. He was the hard-hitting linebacker and team captain who held a newly integrated Alexandria, Virginia, team (T.C. Williams High School) together in 1971, and the young man whose funeral is shown at the beginning and end of the film.

A Titan worth remembering forever

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If you’ve seen the movie Remember the Titans, you know the name Gerry Bertier. He was the hard-hitting linebacker and team captain who held a newly integra

A Titan worth remembering forever

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