Deborah Dillon Lightfoot

Deborah Dillon Lightfoot (March 1, 1956 – June 21, 2007) was an American wheelchair athlete. She was the third woman inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Early life and education Deborah Ann Dillon was born in South Windsor, Connecticut, the daughter of Thomas J. Dillon and Patricia Sullivan Dillon. In February 1971, at age 14, she injured her spinal cord in a sledding accident, and became quadriplegic. Two years later, she was a delegate to the National 4-H Congress in Chicago. She also wrote articles about 4-H Club activities for the Hartford Courant.

Dillon graduated from South Windsor High School in 1974, She and teammate Sharon Hedrick were among the first wheelchair athletes to win the school's George Huff Award for student athletes.

Dillon graduated from the University of Illinois in 1979,

Dillon Lightfoot was an information systems analyst with the California Department of Health Services. She continued active in sports in adulthood, as a founding member of the Bay Area Meteorites (a women's basketball team). She also played with the Sacramento Gold Rush.

Personal life Dillon married David H. Lightfoot in 1992. She died from cancer in Lincoln, California in 2007, aged 51 years.