Wheelchair pickleball player swings his paddle with a purpose

WYNDMOOR, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- It wasn't easy when this local pickleballer lost his mobility, bound to using a cane.

"When I lost my ability to stand and walk without a cane, the thing I missed most was pickleball," said Gerry Whelan of Roxborough.

Whelan thought his days on the court were over, until he found out about wheelchair pickleball.

Now, every swing is serving his passion in the process.

"The main thing is to just get the general population accepting of the fact that if you're in a chair, you can still play," said Whelan.

Whelan is a friend of Wyndmoor's very own OPUS Pickleball Club.

"Every day when I'm here, I know almost everybody by first name. I think what we found is that people end up coming back here because of the culture and the environment in the community," said Ed Morris, owner of OPUS Pickleball Club.

For more information, check out the video above.