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Peer Mentor Interviews

Eric Vetter - T4-5 Incomplete Paraplegic from South Dakota, USA, 28 Years Post-Injury

11/22/2021

 
“Get out and live life, there is absolutely no reason you should be sitting inside of a house doing absolutely nothing.”

Sharon Malone - T5 Complete Paraplegic from Arizona, USA, 9 Years Post-Injury

10/26/2021

 
“​​I would love to be able to walk again, but my mind always works at a very fast pace, so it’s a go, go, go, go. I get around faster in the wheelchair than I can with other devices… as long as I can still keep up, I’m good.”
***Sharon is certified as a peer mentor with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Ability 360, and United Spinal.***

DuWayne Wilson - C7 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Montana, USA, 5 Years Post-Injury

10/26/2021

 
“My life has always been defined by a) family, b) church, and c) the ranch. Well, I’m doing all three of those things. So if doing all three of those things and walking was fine, why can’t doing all three of those things and not walking be fine?”

Jeff Hayne - T6 Complete Paraplegic from Minnesota, USA, 21 Years Post-Injury

10/14/2021

 
"You have to know what’s right for you, you have to advocate for yourself, but go back to living your life, immediately, as soon as possible."
*** Jeff Hayne is a certified peer mentor with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.***

Dixin Yan - C4/T11 Incomplete Paraplegic from Washington, USA, 7 Years Post-Injury

9/15/2021

 
“The one thing I deeply care and love to do is photography. I love to capture the beauty of nature, people, of the night sky, almost everything, and I like to share with other people.”

Brandon Blackard - C4/5 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Mississippi, USA, 16 Years Post-Injury

9/9/2021

 
“It changes everything when you realize that you’re not stuck in the bed… You think you’re going to die that way, but even if you can’t breathe on your own, there’s sip-and-puff chairs that can allow you to go anywhere you want."

Calven Comer - L1 Complete Paraplegic from West Virginia, USA, 14 Years Post-Injury

8/30/2021

 
"You can’t let things get you down and keep you down. Don’t live about the chair or for the chair... live for yourself, your family, and your loved ones."

Randy Canady - C6 Complete Quadriplegic from Alaska, USA, 29 Post-Injury

8/24/2021

 
“When I was first injured all I wanted to do was walk again. I just wanted my body back, and it was really like I went through a death where I lost a best friend and he’s no longer here, but that best friend is me.”

Sandra Patricia - Paraplegic with Spina Bifida from Connecticut, USA, 45 Years Post-Injury

8/15/2021

 
“My parents were told that I wouldn’t live past a year... So now look at me... I can retire when I’m 48, so hopefully I can take advantage of that and maybe start another career, and travel with my partner who is sitting right next to me, and get him to travel the world with me.”

Danny Carver - T9 Complete Paraplegic from Alabama, USA, 1 Year Post-Injury

7/28/2021

 
“Being in the chair has brought me closer to life itself. With the kids, everything means more, it’s even brought me closer to the good Lord... I would pray before only when something good happened… now I talk to him whether it’s good or bad.”

Jenny Smith - C6/7 Complete Quadriplegic from Kentucky, USA, 32 Years Post-Injury

7/12/2021

 
“As a recovering perfectionist, doing anything I wasn’t good at was a risk. But getting out on the tennis court, feeling the ability to swing the racket, make contact with that ball, it was just a great experience… and that’s when my world just opened up.”

Wendi Smiley - T11 Complete Paraplegic from North Dakota, USA, 28 Years Post-Injury

6/29/2021

 
“I don’t need to walk to be happy. I just need to be me to be happy, and like my friends say, once you know Wendi Smiley you’ll never forget Wendi Smiley. Nothing has changed about me except for my means of transportation.”

David Shorty Miller - L1 Incomplete Paraplegic from Ohio, USA, 17 Years Post-Injury

6/29/2021

 
“I lived from bar to bar always drinking, and at a fast pace, and I was trying to get back to my roots to where I wouldn’t live that lifestyle... and that’s when I realized this wasn’t an accident, this was a prayer answered.”

John Warren Jr. - T10 Complete Paraplegic from Florida, USA, 9 Years Post-Injury

6/15/2021

 
“I was embarrassed to be seen in a chair. I just remember that barrier of people seeing me in a chair and I just was like, ‘Uh, what are they thinking?’ Now I’ve got this attitude like, ‘World, see me now!’ It’s so cool.”

Craig Blanchette - PFFD Double Amputee from Idaho, USA

6/15/2021

 
"Highlights for me personally... it may not have been when I won, it may have been when I lost and developed a new skill set and overcame a problem and then won."

David Thomas - C5 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Louisiana, USA, 36 Years Post-Injury

6/15/2021

 
“It’s really satisfying when you get to go out and watch a rocket test fire, to know that no matter when we finally do get back to the moon… I’m going to have a hand in that.”

Cole Peers - T12 Incomplete from Louisiana, USA, 15 Years Post-Injury

5/17/2021

 
​“You’re going to have falls, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Don’t be afraid to fall because if you can survive this you can survive anything thrown at you.”

Dean Joyce - C5-7 Complete Quadriplegic from Arizona, USA, 26 Years Post-Injury

5/17/2021

 
"People need to stop thinking 'Who is going to hire me in a wheelchair?' Forget the wheelchair part, what can you bring to the table?
Dean is a certified peer mentor with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and United Spinal. https://www.christopherreeve.org/
​
https://unitedspinal.org/ ​

Pete Golden - C5/T1 Complete Quadriplegic from Pennsylvania, USA, 31 Years Post-Injury

4/29/2021

 
“I started flying gliders, like literally two weeks out of rehab… you’re eye-to-eye with hawks circling in a thermal… and I’m circling directly over the spot I was injured, but it never even crossed my mind.”

Dan Zorman - T4 Complete Paraplegic from Minnesota, USA, 9 Years Post-Injury

4/29/2021

 
“The thing I’ve found raising the kids from a chair is kids in general are really genuine and caring, and forgiving… and just being able to show them that yeah things can happen in life and you can go on and still be a person out there doing your thing... I think my kids are probably better for it.”

Ayana Pender - T12/L1 Complete Paraplegic from Louisiana, USA, 28 Years Post-Injury

4/28/2021

 
“I look on life as I've had the best of both worlds. I did have the opportunity to walk and now I have the opportunity to look at life in a different way.”
**Ayana is a certified peer mentor through United Spinal**

Sandy RubyMelo - C4/C5 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Florida, USA, 5 Years Post-Injury

4/5/2021

 
​“I’ve gained so many positive skills during my paralysis that I know that everything happens exactly the way it’s supposed to, and as it should.”
Check out Sandy’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/santaz33064.

Brian Denny - C3/C4 Incomplete Quadriplegic from South Carolina, USA, 11 Years Post-Injury

3/29/2021

 
"Be willing to seek out help to get advice from others that are in a similar situation, because that’s going to be the biggest benefit, whether you’re ready to accept the fact that you’re injured and life is going to be different or not.”
**Brian is a certified peer mentor with the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association and the United Spinal Association.**

James Murtha III - C4/5 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Michigan, USA, 7 years Post-Injury

3/29/2021

 
“I went to graduate school and I went sky diving and stuff like that, but I’d say personally the most surprising accomplishments have been what I’ve been able to do to adapt… it’s just like such a boost to come up with ideas and workarounds.”
**James is a certified peer mentor through the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation**

Eboni P. Jones - Advocate with Spastic Cerebral Palsy, Wisconsin, USA

3/25/2021

 
“I would just encourage people that are differently-abled and not differently-abled to actually sit down and have a conversation… because we tend to look at the outside and judge strictly off of that… but all along we’re kind of dealing with the same things just in different shells.”
Check out Eboni's website at https://www.ebonipministries.com.
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