Paralyzed Henderson resident Sam Schmidt thankful for life on Father’s Day

Sam Schmidt might not be alive today if not for his children.

Schmidt, a longtime Henderson resident, was an up-and-coming IndyCar Series star in 2000 when he crashed during a practice session in Orlando. The catastrophic accident left him a quadriplegic, forcing some major life decisions.

He might have just quit on life, but he had two kids to raise.

“I couldn’t give up,” said Schmidt, who has documented his life in his new book, “No Finish Line.” “They were a large part of the reason I had the attitude I did. There were dark times, times of question. But the fact that my kids were at my side reminded me that there was a reason for living.”

Schmidt’s post-racing journey began in a pile of wreckage. Along with his wife, Sheila, he navigated his way through neigh-saying doctors and stubborn insurance companies, eventually getting back behind the wheel, buying his own race team, and starting a foundation for victims of paralysis.

His business degree from Pepperdine University also provided some advantages.

“I just had to come up with unique and creative ways to do things,” said Schmidt, 61, who won his first IndyCar race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1999. “You can do anything you want if you think about it and plan for it. There’s not much we haven’t been able to do.”

Just months after his accident, he founded Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which was among the most successful programs in open-wheel racing for two decades. Though he sold the company to McLaren Racing in 2024, he continues to head Conquer Paralysis Now (formerly the Sam Schmidt Foundation), which oversees DRIVEN NeuroRecovery Centers to help patients move on from where the benefits of doctors and insurance companies end.

But his interest in helping people with paralysis did not start with his own injury. His father also was paralyzed on the right side of his body in a 1974 racing accident.

“He never complained,” Schmidt said. “He went back to work in two weeks and was really successful.”

Like father, like son.

Schmidt held out hope for regaining the use of his arms for over a decade, but it wasn’t meant to be. Even so, he has spent the past 26 years attacking a “bucket list” along with his family.

“Some of the coolest things we’ve done have been on Father’s Day,” said his daughter, Savannah Boehrer, who was a toddler at the time of her dad’s accident. “We didn’t just sit there and do nothing. We always led a full life.”

Among those adventures has been skydiving and chin-guided sailing. But those highlights hardly compare to Schmidt’s most stunning feat.

In 2021, he rolled his daughter down the aisle in his wheelchair at her wedding. But when it came time for the father-daughter dance, Schmidt was helped up while wearing an exoskeleton suit made by business partner Arrow Electronics. And he danced with his daughter, after which the video went viral online.

“The wedding is the first chapter in my book for a reason,” Schmidt said, noting that months of research and development went into the suit. “It was my most special day in the last 26-plus years.”

Boehrer said it was a moment she will never forget.

“When we got to dance, everyone just wept,” she said. “It was a beautiful moment.”

Schmidt’s son, Spencer Schmidt, now races prototype sports cars and narrates his dad’s new book in the audio format.

So what’s on tap for Fathers Day 2026? Schmidt’s kids will be traveling, but they plan to make it up on another date. He suspects he’ll spend the day being thankful for his wife, children and countless others who have played a role in keeping him active.

“I’m a Type-A,” Schmidt said. “Overnight I couldn’t do anything for myself. People have helped me so much. My book is a bit of a thank-you to the multitudes of people who have helped me for the past 26 years.”

And perhaps he will catch a televised race.

“I still love racing,” he said. “It is my passion, but (neuro treatment) is my purpose.”