Not sure about the first guy, he's just a vehicle to convey the ignorant, smarmy sentiment disproven by the panel that follows.
The guy below is Christopher Reeve. Used to play Superman (and be quite an athlete in additon to being an actor) until a horse riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Spent the rest of his life barely able to breathe on his own. Quite a tough guy, but I would hardly call the disability following his catastrophic injury "empowering". It didn't kill him but it sure as shit didn't make him stronger either, and I'm pretty sure he would have taken exception to anyone trying to tell him otherwise.
