Local News

Travel Channel series features local author, photographer Kevin Connolly

Posted: Feb 17, 2013 5:48 PM by Ben Trotter
Updated: Feb 18, 2013 10:59 AM

HELENA -A Helena author, photographer and athlete can now add television star to his list of accomplishments.

Kevin Michael Connolly was born without legs, but he's never let that slow him down.

Connolly is the subject of the new Travel Channel series "Armed and Ready."

"The show is about taking what a legless guy can't do, and making him do it," Connolly explained.

He says the show takes a new look at what someone with physical disability can and can't do.

"The only way in which I was perceived, and a lot of other people I've met with physical disabilities had been perceived...as this just kind of simple human interest piece. Isn't that nice?" he said.

There will be no fluffy moments of epiphany, no weepy human interest moments, just a guy tackling potentially dangerous situations, and therein lies the challenge.

"How does a legless guy street luge or skydive or cliff-dive or do whole bunch.Drive the lunar rover!? That one was a more fun, less risky one, but it was still there," Connolly said.

It all starts with getting creative about the gear used to make these stunts happen. Kevin says he learned these skills years ago as a mono-skier through Eagle Mount.

"A lot of the things that they taught me at a really broad level, in terms of just adapting to your environment and surrounding, is definitely at play here in every episode," he said.

Connolly's show "Armed and Ready" premieres Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. on the Travel Channel.