SCI Superstar: Drew Bates

For Drew Bates, his injury was all about turning lemons into a sweet, sweet lemonade, and if he made you spurt it out of your nose because you’ wee laughing too hard, even better. A trained actor by trade, after his injury Drew created a unique offshoot for his talents – he became a cartoonist and yes, he did the voices.

Voice-over acting was by far his greatest talent. Read on to learn about Drew Bates, a hardworking Southern boy who was an expert at reinventing his talents.

Why He Was fearless

Drew’s journey into life as a quadriplegic began in 2007.  He was 32 years old and driving home from Las Vegas, all the way to Columbia, South Carolina, when he got caught up in a blizzard and was hit by a semi, becoming a C5-6 quad on impact.  After being in denial and his condition the first few months, he started to accept his new life, and he knew he had to make some serious modifications to his acting career if he still wanted to make a living from it. 

A year before his injury ironically enough he created his company UniquePublications LLC, dedicated to providing entertainment for kids and families. He decided to branch off from that, adding more voices to his voice-over skills repertoire.

Big announcer voices, animals, talking chickens, straightforward commercial voices, the Wookie voice, an awesome Arnold Schwarzenegger, not to mention the perfect Southern accent, he does it all.  

Armed with his new voices, Drew decided to create an animation series called Redneck Ninjas, featuring exactly what it sounds like – Rednecks with ninja skills, or at least they think they had them at least. Both Cartoon Network and MTV expressed interested, but unfortunately, it was never produced.

What Happened Next?

Drew also created another project – a full-length animation movie script, HOTEL FIREFLY, that was an 80-min animated action/comedy feature film for Children & Families. The HOTEL FIREFLY provided shelter for weary travelers and was staffed by bugs.

Sadly, in 2020, Drew passed away at his home peacefully due to complications from his injury. Suffering from chronic pain since his injury, Drew was a trooper for 14 years. RIP funny man. Enjoy the great beyond. You will be missed dearly.

— Watch an interview with Drew

— Visit his online obituary