Billy Kimberlin has entered the political arena in Westchase, where he represents Keswick Forest.
By LOGAN MABE
Published May 2, 2003
WESTCHASE - Like a lot of people who like to ride around Westchase, Billy Kimberlin gets pretty peeved when one of his neighbors parks a car across the sidewalk. He's extra cautious when using the wide, white-striped crosswalks. He knows that many drivers blow right through them.
Now that Kimberlin is part of the community's vast political structure, as a voting member for his enclave in Keswick Forest, his opinions on such matters carry a little more weight.
"You know the strict rules (deed restrictions), I didn't really care for them at first," Kimberlin said. "But when I saw what could happen in other neighborhoods, I kind of embraced them."
That's when Kimberlin decided to take a role in the running of Westchase. One often-overlooked deed restriction he said he would like to see more regularly enforced involves homeowners who park in their driveways and block the sidewalk with their vehicles.
Kids on bikes and trikes are forced to take a detour into the street. Kimberlin knows this only too well, because those ill-parked cars also force him into the street when he's tooling around in his motorized wheelchair.
Handicap accessibility is more than an issue to Kimberlin. It's part of his daily life.
He can easily "drive" his wheelchair to the nearby shopping center and shop at Publix, get a haircut or pick up DVDs at Blockbuster. To attend community meetings at the Swim and Tennis Center, he zips down his tree-lined street and crosses busy Countryway Boulevard at the crosswalk. Kimberlin even used to ride up to the Westfield Shoppingtown mall in Citrus Park before traffic got too busy.
An 11-year Army veteran who served in Desert Storm, Kimberlin became a quadriplegic in 1995, after a bicycle accident. He has spent the years since then working to get back up to speed despite his physical impairments.
From his modified work station in the den of his specially designed house, Kimberlin studies and stays in touch with the world.
"I moved here because of this house," said Kimberlin, who bought the home from a man who was a paraplegic. "I was looking for an accessible house and this was the only one out here."
Kimberlin is pursuing a history degree at the University of South Florida.
At home, where Kimberlin's technological setup leaves him almost self-sufficient, he stays busy with senior-level college classes and writing.
"Basically, my job right now is going to school," Kimberlin said. "My initial goal was to go into advocacy work for the disabled community in policy making at the local level, but I really didn't have the time. I'd like to get a master's degree and maybe go into teaching. A drill sergeant is nothing but a teacher."
Another goal of Kimberlin's is to share his experiences in war and peace through one or more books. "My long-term goal is I'd love to get published," Kimberlin said. "I have an elaborate novel I've been planning for years, a book about the first Gulf War. With some levity."
Kimberlin's outlook on life has always been on the wry side (his e-mail address, spastic@att.net is a tongue-in-cheek take on his disability). He's a keen observer of the world around him, perhaps more so now that he relies so much more on his senses than when he could fall back on physical strength and quickness.
"Since I got hurt, I really like to window shop, which I used to hate," Kimberlin said. "At the mall, I just drive around and look at people."
Kimberlin, once an avid mountain cyclist, was injured during a flat-lander training ride in 1995. He simply turned into a parking lot on the base of Fort McClellan in Alabama and hit a patch of gravel. Trying to avoid a bush, he skidded off the road into some soft grass. The front wheel sank and flipped Kimberlin off the bike.
"I just landed funny," Kimberlin said. In an instant, the former drill sergeant and military police officer couldn't move.
"It felt like sticking your finger in a wall socket," Kimberlin said. "The sensation was like when your foot is asleep, except it was all over my whole body."
Paralyzed from the shoulders down, Kimberlin stays active from the shoulders up. On a recent Thursday, he was studying up on the Punic Wars, when he wasn't busy tracking the progress of U.S. troops in Iraq.
But sometimes, his mind works too much for his own good. Equipped with remote controls for nearly every aspect of his house, he often goes to sleep with the television on to keep the dreams at bay.
He said he never dreams of being able-bodied. "I have interactive dreams," Kimberlin said.
"In the dreams I'm disabled but have some function. I have dreams where I'm a paraplegic. But when you wake up in the morning, you're faced with reality every day. You'd rather not have dreams that are somewhat encouraging. So really you'd rather not have dreams at all."
- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com
