When Maureen McKinnon isn’t working as an engagement assistant at the Residence at Vinnin Square, she’s often out sailing.

McKinnon made history at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games as the first woman to represent Team USA in sailing.  With her teammate, Nick Scandone, who was battling ALS and has since died, the duo secured the first-ever gold medal for the U.S. Paralympic sailing team, making McKinnon the first female gold medalist in Paralympic sailing history.

The Winter Paralympics continue in Italy through Sunday. The multisport events involve athletes with a range of disabilities. The first Winter Paralympic Games — like this year’s — were held in 1976 in Sweden.

“I think there’s definitely a stigma around the Paralympics, especially in the United States,” McKinnon said. “I’m just really pleased there’s so much coverage on Peacock right now.”

But McKinnon said perceptions about mobility challenges extend beyond the Paralympics and into everyday life.

At the Residence at Vinnin Square, however, she said accessibility and independence are built into daily life for both her and the residents. She is able to “pull up underneath the stove” and easily reach the sink and microwave.

“When folks see me rolling around in a wheelchair, they automatically assume that I’ve had challenges with (mobility and living independently) too, and of course I have,” McKinnon said. “Living alone, having mobility challenges or even other medical challenges, they can be taken care of here, even though they can remain indpendent…I think the residents relate to me.”

After a paralyzing fall from a seawall in 1995, McKinnon thought her time on the water was over.

“I did sail before I was injured. I did it very, very casually, and then it was that thought that I couldn’t do it as a paraplegic that I began to miss it,” McKinnon said. “Then I found out about the Paralympics.”

McKinnon continued sailing, transitioning from a three-person boat to a two-person boat. She was teamed up with Scandone, from California, and “we just instantly clicked.”

“We ended up doing first place finishes on a regular basis and then won the United States trials,” McKinnon said. 

Throughout their training, Scandone was living with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS, and McKinnon’s son had been diagnosed with cancer. 

“We were both facing challenges and still having to train,” McKinnon said. “So when we won, given all that we had gone through to get there, it was just so much sweeter.” 

McKinnon said the “incredible experience” was encompassed by standing on the podium, when the flag was raised. 

“You’ve seen this 100 times on TV, but then you realize the flag’s being raised not just for your country but for you, your teammate, and for what you just accomplished,” McKinnon said. “It’s a really emotional moment that you just can’t really fully describe.”

Looking back, McKinnon called Scandone, who passed away about two months after they won gold, a “brilliant, brilliant man.” He taught her “so much” as well.  

McKinnon returned to the Olympics in 2016, in Rio, with another partner from California. The boat ended in fifth that time.

Sailing, however, will not be at the Summer Paralympic Games in 2028, marking its continued exclusion since the 2016 Rio Games. While McKinnon and others are fighting to bring the sport back, the International Paralympic Committee says there is a lack of sufficient global participation.

McKinnon still competes locally in Marblehead and Rockport, nationally, and — every four years — internationally at the world championships.

“I have a teammate now with multiple sclerosis (MS) and we sail in the same fleet with each other and against each other but then team up every four years for the world champions,” McKinnon said. “I think I choose my teammates wisely…I don’t feel as though I have to be on a team that wins. Getting a gold medal relieves you of that. You can just sail with people who you like, and as it turns out every four years we’re very successful.”