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Thirteen years ago, Laura Dwyer’s life changed in an instant.
In May 2012, at age 35, the Wisconsin landscaper was working when a 1,000-pound tree branch fell from nearly 40 feet above. The accident left her with 26 broken ribs, three broken toes, and a spinal cord injury at her T12 and L1 vertebrae that paralyzed her from the waist down.
Sports had always been part of Dwyer’s life. Growing up, she played volleyball and softball and competed as a collegiate volleyball player.
Seven years after her injury, she found her way back into sports, this time on the ice.
Dwyer first tried wheelchair curling in 2019 after attending a clinic in her hometown of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. At the time, she said that the sport reminded her of shuffleboard. But what started as curiosity quickly became something more serious.
“It’s elevated my mental health because I now feel like, hey, this is something I picked as a goal, I’m good at it, I’m training hard, and now we’re seeing the results,” Dwyer said.
Those results came fast.
After serving as the first female alternate for the United States at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, Dwyer went on to represent Team USA at the 2023, 2024, and 2025 wheelchair curling world championships. In 2025, she and partner Steve Emt won the U.S. wheelchair mixed doubles national championship, earning the right to represent the United States on the biggest stage.
“It’s elevated my mental health because I now feel like, hey, this is something I picked as a goal, I’m good at it, I’m training hard, and now we’re seeing the results.”
Their partnership arrived at a historic moment. The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games marked the first time wheelchair curling mixed doubles was included in the Paralympic program.
The format was new and different from the team game Dwyer had previously played.
“It’s definitely different just having two,” Dwyer said. “I like it. It's weight on both of our shoulders. We carry each other through a lot of trust, a lot of respect, a lot of just lifting each other and making things happen.”
Together, the duo delivered.
Dwyer and Emt guided Team USA through a competitive round robin, earning wins over Latvia, Estonia, and Italy. With a semifinal spot on the line, the Americans needed to defeat previously undefeated China. In that matchup, Dwyer placed a crucial guard that prevented China from scoring the winning point—a play that secured the United States a place in the semifinals.
Team USA ultimately finished fourth after a narrow 11-10 loss to Latvia in the bronze medal game, delivering the country’s best wheelchair curling result in any event at a Winter Paralympics since 2010.
For Dwyer, the journey to the Paralympic ice was about more than results.
“The fact that we’re all in wheelchairs. Coming together, stepping up, not letting whatever the story was that put us in the chair own us,” Dwyer said. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, I can make something out of my life.’”
In the months leading up to the Games, a simple phrase became her mantra: I belong here.
The phrase started at a training camp last summer, when someone asked Dwyer a simple question: why wasn’t she more confident? She had always worried that too much confidence might come across as arrogance. But coaches and teammates pushed her to see it differently—reminding her that believing she belonged on the ice would only help her trust her shots.
She began writing those words on a sticky note during training, and it evolved into something she carried with her everywhere—eventually even wearing it around her neck in Morse code on a necklace.
“No matter where I go,” Dwyer said, “I’m wearing ‘I belong here’ so I can remind myself.”
For those who have followed her journey, that belief has never been in doubt.
“The fact that we’re all in wheelchairs. Coming together, stepping up, not letting whatever the story was that put us in the chair own us.”
“People just don’t realize how long of a journey she’s been on just to get to where she is today,” Toni Gillette, the occupational therapist who has worked with Dwyer since her injury, said. “If anyone was going to do it, Laura was going to do it. Nothing ever stopped her.”
Dwyer’s story isn’t finished yet. She and Emt have already set their sights on the future—with the goal of returning to the Paralympic stage together in 2030.
Because now, there’s no question about it.
She belongs there.
