Chris Scott has been a thrill seeker since he was born in 1987 in Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. That rebellious nature began to manifest itself early on and took root as a teenager when he was on the snowboarding team for Gould School Academy in Bethel, Maine.

 

It continued when he went off to college in 2006. Shortly after he arrived on the campus of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, he met Candice, a weekend skydiver who introduced him to parachuting. With her guidance, Chris completed his Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) license for solo certification, followed by earning his A, B, C, and D licenses within the first year.

 

As he become more serious, Chris trained to become the best skydiver possible, incorporating exercise and diet regimens. Eventually, he was so committed to parachuting that he jumped approximately 600 times in a year.

 

Chris advanced so far that his discipline of choice became canopy piloting (a.k.a. swooping), which is when a skydiver intentionally flips the parachute to gain speed towards the ground. By 2009, he was part of the Performance Design factory team for swooping. That same year, he won a gold medal for four-way vertical formation skydiving (VFS) at the Skydiving Nationals.

 

Eventually, Chris returned to the east coast and began working as a skydiving instructor on Long Island, NY. For more than three years, Chris taught others what he loved so much.

 

Sky diving provided discipline and a channel for Chris to satisfy his impulse for living life to the fullest. His entire life revolved around sky diving. Then, the fateful day came when his chute didn’t open and his life changed forever.

 

Chris has never lost his love for life and being a rebel. Today, he lifts the ACX Foundation team members to new heights, so they can bring newfound levels of freedom and empowerment to those who have suffered spinal cord injuries. His love of life is an inspiration to everyone around him, including ACX Foundation founder, Jim Virrilli, whom he met by chance.

 

Here is the ACX Foundation team in action. We looked at existing technology with a new vision. Rather than seeing how it is currently being used, we saw how it could be changed for the betterment of people. In this case, how it could be enhanced to help those with spinal cord injuries. We designed, assembled, and installed a custom system so our inspiration, Chris Scott, could take photographs using a tablet and a camera.