Decatur resident Roger Kelley has learned to overcome the paralysis that put him in a wheelchair 25 years ago. Roger runs RogerKelley.Com out of his own home, designing websites for businesses, churches, and gospel music artists.

Late fall of 1997 was a time of crucial decision for Roger Kelley. The 43-year-old Decatur man had a choice between starting his own business and trying to support himself, or packing up his things and moving to a nursing home. He opted for the route in which he could support himself.

Roger, a quadriplegic, decided to strike out on his own with a computer-based business he could develop from his home. With the decision made, RogerKelley.Com was born and the testimony of one more person who wouldn't bow to seemly insurmountable odds began.

Unlike other dot.com businesses, Roger didn't sell stock and hire a lot of employees. His is a locally run, locally maintained company. Since the day he opened his business, Roger has been the sole employee of his company. In the beginning working most days from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at night was the normal routine. However, now that most of his clients come by word of mouth advertising Roger no longer has to spend 20 to 30 hours per week marketing his business. He designs, builds and provides website hosting for companies who want an internet presence and maintains a normal work schedule of eight hours per day.

Roger has been confined to a wheelchair since 1981 following a car wreck that broke his neck. Doctors told him he would never be able to use his arms, but time has proved them wrong. Roger has regained the used of his arms and limited use of his hands. "No matter what obstacles life throws at you, you can overcome them," he said.

Since 1997, Roger's business has grown little by little, but his reputation for professional website design and top-notch customer service at a very economic price is building RogerKelley.Com a solid reputation and customer base. Today his company hosts websites for nearly 100 companies in 28 states, including Hawaii.

"It was tough to find clients when I first got started, but now all I have to do is show them my work," Roger said. "My income from the business has doubled each year, and if that continues, 2006 looks to be very good," he said.

One of the latest customers to join Roger's group of clients is the Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President Susan Hines said Roger was recommended to her when the chamber decided it needed to update and improve its website. "Our old website was hard to find," Hines said. "We contacted another company, who wasn't able to help us because of time, but she recommended Roger." "We've been very pleased with the way the website looks and the service that Roger provides," Hines said.

Roger had no formal training on computers, but is self-taught. Roger said personal computers were first coming on the market about the time of his wreck, but he spent the first five or six years following the accident in rehabilitation.

"I couldn't even feed myself for two years," he said. Those were difficult days for the young man and Roger freely admits he took comfort from drugs during those years. Ultimately he concluded that course was a dead end and started looking for ways to make his life meaningful. "The kids need to know that drugs are not the way to go," Roger said. "If I can keep one kid off of drugs, I would give my life for that."

Roger said drugs factored heavily into the wreck that put him in a wheelchair. "I was on my way to a party, and while they were working to get me out of the car I was worried about them finding the marijuana in my pocket," he said. "There I was paralyzed, and worried about the pot in my pocket."

Roger said the accident left him with a lot of time on his hands and after recovering the use of his arms, he began playing games on a personal computer. It was during this time from 1988 to 1997 that his interest in the games grew from just playing them to figuring them out.

"I took some courses in Birmingham to be a radio dispatcher and switchboard operator, but I couldn't find a job doing that, so I started training myself on computers," Roger said.

During that time, Roger managed to get a job at a printing company in Birmingham and developed a software package for the owner. The program reduced job quotation times from an hour to a matter of a minutes, Roger said. "That was the weakness in his business. When people wanted a quote, he had to stop and work up a quote with a calculator and a pen. He's a rich man now," Roger said.

"I've spent a lot of time learning to do what I need to do. When I needed to do something, I would study it until I could do it. "When someone asks me if I can do something, I always say 'yes', and then go find out how to do it. Now that I have 18 years experience on the computer there's not much I can't do."

A good example of that is the newest addition to his business - adding virtual tours to websites, a few of which are featured on the Hartselle Area Chamber site. "We told Roger we were interested in being able to show highlights of the town on the site with a virtual tour," Hines said. "He figured out how to do it and said, 'I can do that.' "

Right now the tours feature the outside of Barkley Bridge School, the historic Hartselle Depot that houses the chamber of commerce offices, the public swimming pool and the outside of the CerroWire building in the industrial park.

"I'm living the American dream," Roger said. "Everybody wants a home-based business."