Bio: Part I

Writer bio time:
Well, some of you know me, and some of you do not.

My foray into the world of disability happened on March 26, 1986. At 13, I was an avid bicycle rider in sunny Southern California. I would ride with my buddy, Bernie Yudin, every weekend up and down the coastal bike paths easily doing 30 miles at a clip. This particular fateful Wednesday, I went out on my own. I rode 20 miles and was coming home to where I lived in Seal Beach. I was looking to get my bike registered, as any teenager did (or was told to do) in the 80s to "thwart" theft. Coming out of the fire station (who said they registered bicycles on Saturdays), I hopped on my bike and headed home. I came out from between two parked cars and WHAMMO! I didn't see the VW Golf and ran right into it. The good thing is, I broke her windshield and sunroof. My body, however, was not so lucky.

I blacked out, thankfully, and came to looking up at the bright blue California sky. My whole body felt like I had cement burn everywhere, since I had broken my neck and had no feeling below my shoulders. Luckily, the accident happened right next to the fire department I didn't have long to wait for an ambulance. I was rushed to Los Alamitos Medical Center which is just up the road from Seal Beach.

I went in for surgery almost right away. The surgeon deftly removed my crushed fifth vertebrae to help reduce the swelling. I didn't sever my spinal cord, which in spinal injury terms means I am a C-5 incomplete quadriplegic. If I had severed my spinal cord, I'd be a complete quadriplegic. After the surgery, the doctors/nurses cleaned me up but there was still blood on the table. When I landed on the ground, I had almost torn off my left ear and they had missed that. So now my left ear is a little closer to my head than my right.

Normally, well in 1986, they would do the surgery in two steps. First, remove the shattered bone(s), then a few days later fuse the neck with excess bone from the pelvis. In my case, however, I spiked a fever shortly after and had some pretty awesome hallucinations. They postponed the surgery multiple times and I eventually had the second surgery on April 26. In the meantime, I had this sweet, fancy
metal headpiece bolted to my skull that could pick up alien transmissions.

I did receive many many get well cards and plastered my hospital room's walls. There was barely any open space left. One of my friends sent me tapes of Bill Cosby and George Carlin. I played those tapes endlessly. I also watched hours and hours of tv. I jumped from Happy Days to I Dream of Jeannie to Bewitched. I also dreamed of getting back onto a bike. I had my parents get me a Nishiki bicycle catalog and I had my bike all picked out. I guess it didn't really sink in that I wasn't walking anytime soon.

Stop back later for more ;)