The Accident
On the last day that I walked, I was in Virginia Beach to play a series of beach volleyball tournaments
over the Memorial Day weekend. It was Saturday, May 27 1989. After playing in that day’s tournament, a group of friends and I went out for dinner and a night
of barhopping on the beach’s main strip. Somewhere after midnight, on the
way back to the car we stopped at an amusement called bumper boats several blocks off the main strip. As we were leaving, I was walking along the side of the pool and my doubles partner pushed me in -- I instinctively
dove into the pool, which was only about 2 1/2 feet deep. I clearly remember
hearing my head hit the bottom of the pool with a dull thud, but I felt absolutely nothing as my head struck the bottom --
the paralysis was instantaneous and complete, leaving me in a dead man's float with a C5-6 SCI. I was taken to Norfolk General Hospital
where I spent two weeks in ICU and a week in a step down unit before enduring an arduous 12 hour ambulance ride that took
me to what was then the Elizabethtown Rehabilitation
Hospital, where I remained for the next five months.
Returning home
Returning home after six months of living in the seemingly safe cocoon
of the hospital was a major transition. It was fortunate that I had gone home
for the weekends over the previous few months so that I could get acclimated to the transition. I also was very fortunate
to have an incredibly supportive family as well as supportive friends, especially at that point in time. While I was still
in the hospital, a veritable army of volunteers was hard at work converting what was a one car garage into a bedroom and bathroom. It was small, but it was home. I don't
think anything can truly prepare you for what this injury can strip from you and how dramatically your life changes. I went from being a totally independent and free spirited individual to someone who
required assistance with the most basic functions of life. That is something
that was truly a source of frustration and I can't say in all honesty that the frustration ever totally goes away. But I was
home, and I adjusted.
Back to School
For me the next step was to get back to school and to finish my bachelor’s degree in communication studies. It was never a question of whether I would do it but how (trust me that's not a statement
of inspirational optimism, it was just my thought process at that point in time). Going
back to Towson University
where I had been previously was my main focus. In going back to school, I can't
emphasize strongly enough how supportive and accommodating the faculty, staff and university were overall. It wasn't an easy process by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so much easier going back to a
place with which I was familiar and where I had friendships and relationships established. Other
then the minor physical accommodations made by the university, the key to getting back was recruiting other students from
the nursing and occupational therapy programs (as well as students in general) that could serve as is attendants. All in all it went incredibly smoothly, mostly because of the people that I knew and met as a result of
the process.
After graduating from Towson, I decided to pursue my masters at the University of Maryland. Having been through this process once before I thought I would just duplicate the same system I had used
at Towson. Much
to my chagrin, it didn't work out as smoothly. To say the two years I was at
Maryland were rocky would be an understatement. I had difficulty finding and retaining reliable people to assist me especially my first semester, not to
mention that living in an apartment with four other guys was an interesting exercise.
As opposed to the embrace that I encountered at Towson, at Maryland I felt I was met with much more apathy which made
the whole process all the more difficult. Somehow, with the help of my family,
some good people I did happen to meet, and the faculty in my department I made it through, which made the success all the
sweeter especially in retrospect.
Employment
I had pursued a master's degree based on the rationale that would make me more competitive in the workplace. I was quite aware that I was going to need something to set me apart from other candidates and to combat
any discrimination that I might encounter. Finding work was difficult even with
the two degrees under my belt. I submitted countless resumes and sat through
a seemingly endless parade of interviews in York, Lancaster
and Harrisburg honing my interview skills through sheer repetition. I did find gainful employment -- I've had a number of jobs, some part-time and others
full time, but in the end I stumbled upon an opportunity that seemingly made sense to everybody but me at the time -- teaching. In 2000, I began teaching marketing and public speaking at Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts (now the
Art Institute of York Pennsylvania). In 2003, I began teaching human communications
at York College and public speaking at Harrisburg Area Community College. Currently, I teach full-time
at the Art Institute of York Pennsylvania and as an adjunct at York
College.
