Norco veteran to be honored on Cheerios Box

Norco veteran to be honored on Cheerios Box

The Press-Enterprise

Video: Norco resident to appear on Cheerios box

NORCO - Navy veteran Mohan Prasad Vallabhapurapu says life is about clearing obstacles, no matter how high or daunting.

As a kid growing up in India, Mohan -- as he prefers to be called -- cleared hurdles on the athletic field. Later, he became a tennis professional and instructor and worked as a linesman for Davis Cup and U.S. Open matches, watching masters like Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe at work.

But his toughest hurdle came after completing a tour of duty as a combat medic in the first Iraq war. Mohan, 52, was working in the Navy's contracting office in Singapore when he slipped on a stairway and tumbled more than 20 feet, suffering head, spinal and neurological injuries that confined him to a wheelchair.


Norco's Mohan Vallabhapurapu, a paralyzed Navy veteran, will be one of 12 veterans featured on a Cheerios box.
For more than three years, he could barely move.

Depression accompanied the debilitating pain.

When he went as low as he could go, Mohan said, he remembered that as a young athlete, success on the field or court -- whether mastering the long jump or learning to serve in tennis -- always meant overcoming discomfort and pain.

He used the old lessons to forge a new path, enjoying success as a disabled athlete in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, winning nine gold, three silver and five bronze medals in table tennis, billiards, bowling and motorized soccer.

This month, his picture and story appear on a specially produced box of Cheerios cereal as part of a promotion to encourage veterans to eat healthy and exercise.

He is one of 10 disabled U.S. veterans so honored by the first-ever promotion of its type.

Mohan will sign autographs today at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System. He appeared Thursday at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Long Beach and will appear in May at the VA in St. Louis at a national conference highlighting exercise and healthy eating.

"When you are disabled, you hit the wall every moment," he said from his home in Norco. "Whatever you had in your other life, you have in your disabled life. I took the pain as part of another hurdle to overcome. You do one thing at a time. Nothing is easy. Nothing is done overnight."

It was slow progress at first. To get out of bed, to shave, to get dressed, all took time and Job-like patience.

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But as he began reinventing himself as a wheelchair-bound athlete, Mohan said his overall health improved as the pain diminished.

He lost about 15 pounds. His stamina and muscle tone improved. His mental health improved, too. He found that athletics stimulated his brain. The improvement encouraged him to work even harder.

He takes on able-bodied opponents in table tennis, and wins his share of matches. He's ranked 923rd in the U.S.

Loma Linda VA hospital officials say Mohan is the kind of guy they like to talk up.

He's a poster child for eating healthy and exercising despite limitations, said Denice McGilvery, who heads the medical center's MOVE program. That stands for Managing Overweight Veterans Everywhere.

"He's an inspiration," McGilvery said. "Veterans are used to following a game plan when they are in the military. We want to encourage them to use the skills they learned in the military to get in shape."

Mohan said he's glad to lend his name to the Cheerios brand. He ate it before the company, part of General Mills, selected him from hundreds of wheelchair veterans.

Other hurdles remain to be conquered.

Mohan recently took up skiing at the Veterans Sports Clinic, conducted every year at Aspen, Colo. He calls the program "miracles on the mountainside."

"Life is about going through stresses and strains," he said. "Then you get the results."

Reach Joe Vargo at 951-368-9289 or at jvargo@PE.com

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