John Brewer (athlete)

Brewer was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Raymond Glen and Joan Brewer.[3] He and his family moved to West Los Angeles where he attended and graduated from University High School.[3] Brewer attended Santa Monica College, leaving to serve as a Mormon missionary from 1969 to 1971 before returning to complete his studies there.[3]

Brewer had intended to attend Brigham Young University–Hawaii to obtain a degree.[3] However, in December 1973 he was involved in a traffic collision which resulted in him being paralyzed from the chest down.[3][4] He was in hospital in California for almost a year, then moved to Utah to be with his family and receive further treatment at the University of Utah Hospital.[3] Brewer attended the University of Utah, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[3] He worked as an art teacher in secondary schools for almost 40 years.[3]

While at the University of Utah Brewer became involved in wheelchair sports.[3] In 1976 he became the first person to finish a marathon in a wheelchair in the Western United States in 1976.[3]

Brewer competed in athletics at the 1988 Summer Paralympics.[2][5] He was awarded silver medals in the men's 800m 1C and men's 1500m 1C events, before winning gold in the 1C men’s marathon[6] He also competed in the marathon at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, but finished outside the medal positions.[2]

Brewer died in February 2022 of a cardiac arrest at his home, at the age of 71.[3]

• John Brewer at Paralympic.org