Written by Kay (Josh’s mum)
Josh and I had a meeting regarding some potential public speaking opportunities, and it’s early days with this but he said something VERY interesting and exciting…
“When I was told I would never get out of bed or if lucky be in a motorised wheel chair the medical team at the Austin did everything possible to encourage me to get ‘good’ at managing my situation… Obviously that’s their role!
“The reality was the prognosis was not where I wanted to be, so after my mother refused to help me end my life I thought about what I really wanted to do.
“I wanted my ‘old’ life back — I loved my life and I was prepared to do whatever it took to get it back.
“As I improved, through the help of my alternative team and my mind exercises, I was encouraged by the medical team to “get good” at a wheel chair sport. I made a decision NOT to ‘get good’ at something that would keep me in the wheel chair.
“Basically I hated everything about the chair, especially the way I was treated when I left the hospital at various times. I don’t blame anyone for wanting to excel in wheel chair sports etc, that’s their choice and that’s great for them… I just wanted my life back something simple but the task was monumental.
“One thing neither my mother or I did was go to the internet to learn about spinal cord injuries, we simply did not want anything to take our focus off my recovery.
“I know that every spinal cord injury is different so I didn’t want to take on any possible restrictions to my recovery.
“My focus was to, stand, walk, ride my motor bike & snow board again, I wanted my “new” life to be as close to my old life as possible…
“10 years later I have achieved my initial goals, but my new goal is now to WALK WITHOUT MY STICK, I WANT TO WALK NORMALLY, so now the task begins. I am building a new team to assist me achieve my goal but it will naturally include Dr Simon as he brings it all together for me.
“I still work everyday at making my body work. Medically I shouldn’t be living the way I do but I practice every day at maintaining my Life.
“Every morning when I get out of bed I make my body function, this is my life now!”
“Medically I have 5% use of my spinal cord at the injured area, essentially internally I am still a quadriplegic with many of the issues…but this will never stop me achieving my goals”
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We’re going to be sharing more about the exciting progress of Josh’s new goals for 2011 (including commentary from the health professionals assisting him to make it happen), so if you want to add your details below we’ll send you the updates directly to your inbox! 🙂
Josh, I wish you great luck. Your strength and conviction are amazing. Keep up the battle and you’ll have a fan in the USA cheering you on all the way!