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Peer Mentor Interviews

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.

Joel Simmons - C7 Complete Quadriplegic from Tennessee, USA, 11 Years Post-Injury

3/19/2021

 
“It feels good to be out and have some fresh air and a breeze on your face and hot dog and beverage from the stands - that’s when you start living again, when you start partaking in things that are around you.”
​**Joel is a certified peer mentor through the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center**

Eduard Florentin - C5 Incomplete from Bucharest, Romania, 2 years post-injury

3/3/2021

 
“That was like a knife in my heart to see I’m not able to sit or able to walk, or able to put on my clothes. But I’m concentrating on what I can do. I can breathe, I can have my mind, I can dream, I can wish.”

Scott Saumsielgle - T12 Incomplete Paraplegic from Massachusetts, USA, 1 year post-injury

2/22/2021

 
"My son was a big mentor to me, he was telling me, 'Dad, just be patient, don’t worry, it’s going to work out,' ... because I used to say that to him as a kid... and I love that role reversal."

Alexia Bouckoms - T9 Complete Paraplegic from Connecticut, USA, 23 years post-injury

2/11/2021

 
“There are stand-up comics but I can’t find a sit-down comic. I can make jokes about things that no one else could touch with a 10-foot pole, and I’m only a five-foot pole. I need to go back to work.” ​

Damon Boiser - C6 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Hawaii, USA, 18 years post-injury

2/5/2021

 
"What really helped me get back into the swing of things is figuring out what you’re most afraid of, just overcoming fear. The higher the fear threshold, the higher the reward."

Reveca Torres - C6 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Illinois, USA, 26 years post-injury

9/30/2020

 
​"My goals are not necessarily to walk again. My goals are to stay healthy because a disability doesn't mean that I'm unhealthy."
Check out her organization Backbones at https://backbonesonline.com!

Kendo - T12 Completo Parapléjico del Valle de Cauca, Colombia, 7 Meses Post-Lesión

8/12/2020

 
“Los que tienen lesión medular entienden y saben que esto más que un tema físico… es un cambio de vida en un minuto que nos obliga a explotar y sacar la mejor versión de nosotros.”

Carolyn V. Boyles - C3/T3 Incomplete Quadriplegic from Arkansas, USA, 26 years post-injury

8/7/2020

 
“Most of the books I found were people telling me, ‘Okay, this is what happened to me.’ That’s helpful but that’s not what I want -- I want a “how-to.” So I decided, fine, I know what I want. If I can’t find it, I’ll write it.
Find Carolyn's book, "A Complete Plain-English Guide To Living With A Spinal Cord Injury," at https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Plain-English-Living-Spinal-Injury-ebook/dp/B0014E6ZAU.

Josh Basile - C4/5 Complete Quadriplegic from Maryland, USA, 16 years post-injury

7/21/2020

 
“A spinal cord injury is a long term injury for most people, and... you need to approach it as a long-term investment. Nobody is going to fight harder for you than you’re going to fight for yourself. So... you need to be ready to be the captain of the ship.”

Ian Ruder - C5 Complete Quadriplegic from Oregon, USA, 22 years post-injury

6/2/2020

 
​"Don't feel like you have to go any route. If you don't want to do support groups, don't want to do your peer mentoring for a while, don't do it. But be open to that possibility re-emerging in your life." 
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