Disabled ability?

About the Author

Mark Whyte

Mark's an adjunct Professor at 3 colleges, teaching in Sociology, Theology and Public Relations online, and is an avid internet entrepreneur. Car & Truck Stuff and Books

More about Mark Whyte

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be disabled? Do you know anyone who is?

I was one of those 20 year old invincible kids who thought he had the world by the tale...and even if I did, sometimes with a mere "flick of the tail" you can go sprawling...and I did!! I was on a wrestling scholarship at a 2-year college in Kansas, with aspirations of "making it to the big time - No, not the WWF - but rather a major 4 year university to continue wrestling and go from there to the Olympics!" So what happened?

Well, like most of you reading this, I never gave much thought to how fast things can change. These days, every time I pick up the paper and read about yet one more car accident where a person died or was severely injured, I think to myself: "Wow, becoming disabled can happen so incredibly fast!" And of course accidents happen in thousands of ways: cars, motorcycles, lightning strikes, war, gang violence, work related, and even on vacation. And becoming disabled through an accident doesn't take in to consideration all of the birth defects, or diseases that can strike the unsuspecting and make life pretty darn hard to live. It almost makes you want to curl up around your fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and never go outside...BUT, that's not reality is it?

Now in my case, I broke my neck in a college wrestling match. It started off like most other matches, but little did I ever dream that this one could change my life for ever...and it did! Due to some delays in the tournament, I didn't get a chance to thoroughly warm up my muscles before the match and was called to wrestle. Frankly, I was a bit disoriented (my friends might say this is normal, but I'm sure they're just trying to be funny...I think...). My opponent came out and quickly took me to the mat and turned my shoulders toward my back (not where you want to be as a wrestler). That was not a problem, I knew what to do - so I simply bridged up on my neck - a routine I've practiced literally thousands of times - but this time, my neck snapped and broke at Cervical 6-7. At that moment, I was paralyzed from the neck down...at that moment, I was entering the whole new world of being a "quadriplegic!"

Over the years, my recovery has been better than many, but nonetheless, I've been assigned to crutches, and more recently (on occasion) a wheelchair for nearly 30 years. I've gone thru surgeries, the onset of arthritic joints, massive leg spasms, shoulder degeneration and pain (from using crutches) and so much more...

"So what" you say? I agree. stories are all nice and good and they can pull at the heart strings, but as they say, "What have you done for me lately?" Or in other words, have your trials, issues, problems and heartaches made you BETTER or BITTER? So which is it for you? You may not have an "official" handicap, but you have your own set of difficulties. What are they propelling you to do? Are you getting better in spite of them? Just something to consider. Visit us at http://disability.justadisability.com/