It matters not if you win or lose, it's how you fund the game.By Don Norcross, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Cameron Clapp and his Pismo Beach friends heeded President Bush's call and showed their patriotism.
They lined a friend's driveway with candles and shined a spotlight on an American flag. But as teen-agers are wont to do, Clapp started partying, and drinking.
About 3 a.m., curious about what the memorial looked like from a distance, Clapp walked to train tracks across the street from the neighborhood.
"I (used to) sleep right there," Clapp said. "I used to sit on the tracks. I felt safe."
Clapp doesn't remember what happened next. But three days later he awoke in a hospital bed missing both legs below the knee. His right arm was severed below the shoulder.
Clapp, now 17, was among the more than 600 people, almost 100 of them physically challenged athletes, who participated in the 10th annual San Diego Triathlon Challenge at La Jolla Cove yesterday. Clapp did the 1.2-mile swim.
"I'm doing this to show people you can't be stopped by one missing limb, two missing limbs, not even three missing limbs," Clapp said. "I'm not sitting in a slump feeling sorry for myself.
"You've got to go out and meet people, find your best interest and give it your best shot. You never know. This might be your only life. And I definitely want to live it to the fullest."
