Italian | Filipino
July 22 1994
Vancouver, British Columbia
“My journey has revealed that movement is far more than a mere mechanical adjustment of the body. It embodies survival, the drive to heal, and the pursuit of freedom and independence.”
I am Leo Sammarelli, a former Italian Inter-Regional Champion and WBC Canadian Amateur National Lightweight Champion. My passion for boxing ignited when I was just 15 years old while living in Italy. After moving to Canada, I pursued the sport fervently, competing and dominating at both the provincial and national levels.
On March 13, 2017, my journey to making boxing my livelihood faced a world-changing roadblock. A bullet pierced the eighth vertebra in my back, leaving me paralyzed. What many would see as a career-ending event, I faced with unwavering determination and a trained athlete’s instinct. I focused on recovery, using my motivation to get out of the hospital and back in the ring. This massive physical and emotional shift from being a high-performance athlete to an everyday wheelchair user did not deter me. Instead, I persevered as a leader, mentor, and all-around inspiration by embracing an adaptive form of the sport. This new approach gave me purpose as a boxing coach and adaptive athlete.
I continue to lead by example, coaching both able-bodied and wheelchair athletes, demonstrating that pushing boundaries is essential both in and out of the ring. I also launched the non-profit West Coast Wheelchair Adaptive Boxing (@wwadaptiveboxing), and I am the current Director of BC Boxing. Additionally, I am working with Great Britain Disability Boxing to provide opportunities for adaptive athletes and pave the way for adaptive boxing to be recognized as a sport.
