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My advice for a newly injury person is to be an advocate for self and not give up.
athletic and good in most sports. Teachers loved my outgoing personality (but said I talk too much), and I loved God!
My belief in Jesus has been my firm foundation from which I feel keeps me living since the first time an accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior at five years old. Being in jail certainly opened my eyes to the fact I was living a destructive life and I didn't want that! In fact, it became clear to me that I wanted so much to live. Live a life of non-violence, filled with family and friends! I prayed one night that God would change my life and the dangerous ways in which I was living. To allow me to help others find a way out of the sorrows of childhood adversities in their life that I once faced too. I wanted to encourage others not to make bad choices.
One day, I decided to hang out with some friends and started drinking alcohol. Before I knew it, I was getting rowdy and provoked to fight. Well to say the least, 40 days after being released, I found myself laying in the ICU with a gunshot injury to my spinal cord at the C6-C7 level! I was pronounced dead on arrival due to the bullet cutting the main artery in my neck. Upon waking up out of a comma, I realized I had put myself in a terrible situation.
With all the complications that come with a spinal cord injury that high, I was in for the fight of my life. Everything from problems with breathing, from pneumonia, to friends pressuring me to sneak off hospital grounds, I faced it! Finally, after 8 months of being in and out of the main hospital to rehab, I finally was told I could go home! Even then, I was still running a fever so doctors were reluctant but had no choice. This many months of hospital time and rehab is unheard of in this day and time! Returning home I (we) had a limited amount of resources. ABIL was one of the few if any. The ADA law was barely started to take effect at that time. There was only a few bus routes that had wheelchair access and going to school was difficult because my campus was not set up for wheelchair users.
My most difficult challenges came from re-adapting to overall life! Health issues were top on the totem pole when it came to adapting to my new life with a spinal cord injury. Bowel and bladder programs being the first priority was, and always will be, for anyone who can't afford their own vehicle for transportation. I struggled for years in this area because without my own van, I was limited to the adventures (and greater quality of life ) to be able to get up and go as I pleased. Getting out of the house helped me in so many areas from fighting depression to being more accountable and on time!
Continued...