Before my brain injury, I was a 25-year-old married man who worked two jobs. I was doing construction on the weekends and truck driving during the week. My wife and I had just bought a house and the bills were coming pretty frequently, and she had just lost her job. So, I had to make sure that everything was covered, while also making sure we had a little extra spending money on the side. I was going to church whenever I had time. I enjoyed maintaining my yard, played basketball on the weekends, and spent time with my cousins and family members.

I don’t remember the accident that caused my brain injury. I was told that it’s possible another truck hit me on the side, and I hit the guard rail on the right side after that. I lost control of the truck, and it went into the median on the highway. My truck rolled over three times, and I was ejected from the truck. At some point, I was hit by the top of the truck, and that’s when I injured both my brain and my spinal cord. I was taken to Grady, where I was in a coma for two days. Luckily, I came out quickly. I remember I was very confused when I woke up at the hospital, not knowing why I was there or why I couldn’t move.

In total, I was at Grady Memorial Hospital for 2.5 months. I was told I suffered a brain injury and a spinal cord injury, along with a horrifying list of other things you don’t want to hear about yourself and how badly you’re hurt. My wife at the time was fighting for my patient rights and for me to get into the Shepherd Center because she knew that was the best place for spinal cord injury. She happened to work at the Marcus Institute. They had a 2.5 year waiting list, but with her advocating for me, I was able to get to the front of the line so I was able to get the rehabilitation therapies I needed.

Little did I know that being at the Shepard Center would change my life forever. I went through a few hard bumps on the road to recovery, and I ultimately learned so much about spinal cord injury (SCI) and nerves firsthand. My rehabilitation therapists were nice, but they made sure to push harder than you even think you can go.

When you are recovering from a SCI, your whole family or significant other goes through it with you. It proved to be too much for my marriage, and our relationship couldn’t survive the abrupt change of lifestyle caused by the catastrophic accident. We separated not even a year after it happened. The added stress of relationship issues was so much on me, while I was trying to heal. So, our marriage ended in 2013.

Moving on was a slow process but I had a lot of love and support from my family. They did their best to keep me busy and my mind focused on my recovery. They made sure I stayed socially connected by going to different events and concerts with me. I had so much going on between doctors’ appointments and therapy there wasn’t much time to do anything else, so I really appreciated my time with them.

Years have passed and things started to fall into place for me. My insurance company worked steadily to give me back the life that I no longer had. They gave me things I needed to maximize my independence, such as a handicap accessible van with a lift. They also set me up with designing a home to accommodate my needs.

Now, if you fast forward 10 years, I can say that I’m in a place of self-improvement. I still have days that I feel down, but they are starting to be less frequent when I’m busy. I’m writing a book about my life and my accident, with the hope that someone else could gain some motivation, healing, and some awareness of SCI from my story.