On July 29, 2000, I was involved in a four wheeling accident and my life instantly changed. I learned several hours later that I had fractured C-6 and shattered C-7, resulting in a spinal cord injury, level C-6/C-7. This left me paralyzed from the chest down with very little hand and arm movement. As the EMT’s strapped me onto the backboard, I remember asking them if I would be able to pitch for my high school softball team, as my senior year was to begin in 2 weeks. He said he did not know. I told him that I would. That night, my neurosurgeon gave me a 3-10% chance of walking again. I was also told that if I did walk again, I would never do it unassisted. I would need the aid of a cane or walker. I fought my condition with an amazing attitude. I was known by the nurses as “Pollyanna“.
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I spent my 18th birthday in the hospital, and as I blew out my candles, I told everyone that they knew what my wish was. Two days later, with my family in the room, I began wiggling my toes. Then I remember barely lifting my feet off of the bed. The next day, I asked my therapist to get in the parallel bars. She told me we could try standing. As I stood between the bars with my therapist keeping a firm grip on me, I began shifting my hip forward. I was walking! Through the persistence of a therapist who believed in my will to walk, my families love and support, the grace of God and my drive to recover, I overcame what was thought to be the impossible.
Six months post injury, as my neurosurgeon examined my 6 month MRI, he asked how I was walking, as the damage to my spinal cord was still very evident. How did I overcome such an obstacle? Intense re-training of the muscles and nervous system. I was lucky enough to receive what most SCI’s don’t get in the hospital. The therapists had me sitting on the side of the bed 2 days after surgery, where as most patients stay in bed for weeks, sometimes months. The body must stay as close to performing everyday movements as possible, so that the spinal cord can regenerate its circuits and get the connection to make it through again.
In 2006, my husband of now 3 years, fell 30 feet, when a ladder on a windmill he was working on folded over and he plummeted to the rocky soil below. Along with 2 fractures of both wrists, broken ribs, several cuts and contusions, he also broke all but 1 vertebrae in his neck, which resulted in a SCI at the C-5/C-6 level. Unfortunately, he was not blessed with a physical therapist who believed in him. He had and still has the support of his family, but he just needs the proper intense training as do so many other people suffering from this injury. Micheal is not only a founder of Pressing On, but also our first client.
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Through intense physical conditioning and stimulation, Micheal will walk again, in fact, he will run again. Through God’s unimaginable grace and Pressing On’s stimulation and motivation, we will help all of the SCI clients that are ready and willing to break a little sweat and work harder than they ever have before.
Pressing On will settle for nothing but the best and together with our dedicated staff and hard working clients, we will make a difference in the lives of people living with this catastrophic injury.
12001 Network Blvd, Suite 314 · San Antonio, TX 78249 · 210.877.2228