Photos by Tim Gruber | The Roanoke Times

Bobby McLain's prosthetic leg lies on the dock as he kayaks Friday on Smith Mountain Lake. McLain, of Craigsville, was one of the members of an adventure program devised by the Augusta Medical Center of Fishersville.

Jacob Tyree water-skis Friday on the lake. The teenager has used a wheelchair for about five years but is an experienced personal-watercraft rider. 'That boy is a champ,' a boat driver said.

Amie Trinca was 6 years old when she was left in the cornfield.

She was playing hide-and-seek with the other kids, but when they all left, Amie couldn't get out of the field in her "clunky wooden wheelchair."

"At dinnertime someone finally said, 'Where's Amie?' " Trinca recalled.

Trinca, who was wheelchair-bound because of kidney problems, was profoundly affected by that day.

"No one wants to get left behind," she said.

Today Trinca is fully mobile and doing everything she can to help others keep from being left behind.

A recreation therapist at Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville, she helped organize a daylong adventure program Friday at the 4-H center at Smith Mountain Lake for 21 Virginia and West Virginia residents with limited mobility.

More than 40 people, including volunteers and staff members from rehabilitation facilities, helped attendees participate in sports including scuba diving, tennis, fishing, golf, crossbow shooting and even water-skiing.

Outdoor recreation can be inspiring, Trinca said.

"As individuals we all have the desire to recreate," she said. "There's an adrenaline rush when you feel the rush of the wind, the water hitting you in the face."

The event was part of the hospital's Leisure Experiences for Active People program and was sponsored by a number of organizations, businesses and individuals.

"The whole purpose is to leap back into life, get that flame and flicker going again," said Trinca, who has been working in recreation therapy for more than 30 years.

Shawna Caffey of Chesapeake was among the more recently injured participants. Caffey, 26, was paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident in September.

"I've had a great time so far," said Caffey, who is undergoing rehab at the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville. "It really has opened my eyes to know there are ways out there and accommodations for people in wheelchairs to do things."

Some of the events weren't easy, but overcoming a challenge can be a huge confidence booster, Trinca said.

Caffey made the crossbow look easy.

She was barely warmed up when she shot one bolt directly into one that was already in the target, a relatively rare feat archers call "shooting a Robin Hood."

"I've hunted before, but I've never shot a crossbow," said a smiling Caffey, who plans to keep the unique trophy.

Jacob Tyree of Roanoke County was another natural, excelling at his first attempts at wheelchair tennis and sit-down water-skiing.

Just 14, Jacob has the upper body of a gymnast, his muscles formed from five years of getting around in a wheelchair.

Jacob was 9 when he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his spinal cord. He lost use of his legs when the tumor and cord were removed.

"But I've been cancer-free since," said Jacob proudly.

As noon neared, Jacob was on the dock at the fishing station, hooking one sunfish after another. His mind was on something else, though.

"Is there any food over there yet?" he wondered, sounding like any other 14-year-old boy.

Which is what he is, said his father, Jerry Tyree.

"He's still Jacob," Tyree said. "We've been very fortunate that he's had that attitude.

"If he puts his mind to it, I don't know of anything he can't do just because of the chair."

Already an experienced personal-watercraft rider, Jacob was itching to try water-skiing for the first time on Friday.

His turn came after lunch. After nearly 15 minutes of getting fitted and set atop the wide ski, Jacob was ready to say, "Hit it."

When boat driver Trae Bane blasted the throttle, Jacob was up, skiing and smiling.

Within a minute he was holding the rope handle with one hand and skimming the water's glassy surface with his other hand.

When Tyree rode past on a personal watercraft, Jacob looked at his dad and smiled proudly.

Later in the session, Jacob even crossed the towboat's wake a couple of times -- and then crashed after getting airborne.

"I figured I'd try it because I knew I had only so much time out there," Jacob said afterward.

Bane was impressed.

"That boy is a champ," he said. "He's naturally athletic."

An assistant at the waterski station even suggested to Jacob that he should consider attending a water-skiing training camp in Alabama.

"We could do that when I go down there for basketball," said Jacob enthusiastically.

Left behind?

Not this kid.