Will to Walk

[manouli]

November 30, 2008

Will to Walk

Accident victim determined not to spend life in wheelchair

By MARK I. JOHNSON
Staff Writer

ORANGE CITY -- While some people stroll through life with ease, Joshuah Roy shuffles along inches at a time.

Each step is a battle, but one this Orange City man plans on winning. He's determined not to spend the rest of his life looking at the world from a wheelchair.

"It may not be pretty, but I will walk," he said.

The 20-year-old was paralyzed from the waist down in a single-car accident 10 months ago. Roy was headed home on U.S. 17-92 in the early morning hours of Jan. 26 when he fell asleep at the wheel of his pickup. It rolled three times. He was ejected out the window and left bleeding on the roadway.

"I broke all my ribs, my sternum, back and a bone in my neck," he recalled.

Doctors said he would never walk again, despite some sensation in his legs. Roy, the eldest of three siblings, dedicated himself to proving them wrong.

"Now I can walk into (the doctors') offices and tell them, 'I told you so,' " he said with a grin.

It wasn't easy.

From the moment he met his first physical therapist -- "I asked her if she was the person who was going to make me walk" -- Roy has spent hundreds of hours working toward his goal. Building up his strength through weightlifting. Enduring pain and muscle spasms. And retraining his damaged body to perform in ways able-bodied persons take for granted.

"My first thought was this is going to be harder than I thought," Roy said.

That was proven to him Oct. 18, the first time he hoisted his tall, thin frame upright and swung his steel-brace-encased leg forward. He described that step as "one of the best moments of my life."

And not only for him.

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http://www.news-journalonline.com/Ne...WEST113008.htm

[Danine]

I'm really happy for him, but I always find these..."I worked hard, now I can walk"...things a bit deceptive. There are soooooo many problems brought about by SCI that are never talked about in "mixed" company, so all the AB's think you're "cured" when you can take a few steps with braces and crutches. I'm a walking para and thought I had the whole SCI thing beat because I could walk with a walker when I left rehab. Without getting the education I needed about bowel and bladder management and neuro pain, etc., I thought I was losing my mind for a long time. I'd gladly sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life if I could choose between walking and having my bowels and bladder work properly and not have neuro pain. Walking isn't everything and not being able to walk is not the worst of this for me. We need to stop letting the AB's believe that we're cured when we can take a few steps...it's so much more complicated than that.

[woman from Europe]

I hate those stories. It is like those of us walking out of rehab did a better job than those who didn't. Those in wheelchairs are lazy, those walking are not.

Most of us just tried as hard as we could to walk, some made it because the spinal cord was not destroyed so bad than those with the whole spinal cord destroyed. It is luck and unluck. How are the ABs going to understand that as long as those stories are written all the time.

[Danine]

Originally Posted by woman from Europe

I hate those stories. It is like those of us walking out of rehab did a better job than those who didn't. Those in wheelchairs are lazy, those walking are not.

Most of us just tried as hard as we could to walk, some made it because the spinal cord was not destroyed so bad than those with the whole spinal cord destroyed. It is luck and unluck. How are the ABs going to understand that as long as those stories are written all the time.

I agree, WFE. I admire those who work hard and accomplish goals...I really do! But I know that there are so many people out there in chairs who are made to feel guilty...like they just didn't try hard enough...by stories like this. Not everyone can recover this kind of function no matter how hard they try...AB's perpetuate the "work hard and anything is possible" myths because people don't want to accept that some things just can't be "fixed" no matter how hard you work at it.

[madmaddmother]

Yesterday I went to a fundraising dinner that was for a young man who had fallen off a roof...I didn't know the family, but the newspaper article said he had a serious tbi and sci...I simply wanted to show my support and give the mother my phone number in case she might have a question, or talk...
I guess he was not injured as seriously as the paper discribed because when I inquired how he was doing, the mother replied to me that God was healing him and perhaps if I really believed in God, my son would be cured...it felt like a knife was just being stabbed into my heart and I left in tears...I do hope and pray for his recovery, and perhaps she meant no harm in what she said, none the less, I do believe in God...I haven't yet figured out the "why" with my son's injury...probably never will and anymore it doesn't really matter...it is what it is, as I've heard many of you say...

[arndog]

Danine - I do agree with you about all the other problems associated with SCI that aren't walking.

If I had to order what I would want Santa to grant me for Christmas (this is of course a fantasy I indulge in ) I would list it in this order. You can see how low motor function (walking ) is.
1. relief from neuropathic and somatic Pain
2. resolution of Neurogenic bladder
3. Sexual function
4. resume Normal bowel function
5. Sensation in legs
6. Last but not least, motor function.
That is the order of priority for me. Walking or running is way down the list.
But I read that story and don't have a negative feel from it. I like to see hope and hard work. We may know what he is up against more than he does since he is so new to this. He will find out soon enough though. I would encourage him to spend some time in a chair and become a great para athlete. I wonder if he is denying himself para sports?
Jon

[woman from Europe]

That is even worse. I don't believe in god but I know half of the Pentecostal Church in Oslo prayed for me and it did not make me AB anyway.

[Danine]

Originally Posted by madmaddmother

I guess he was not injured as seriously as the paper discribed because when I inquired how he was doing, the mother replied to me that God was healing him and perhaps if I really believed in God, my son would be cured...it felt like a knife was just being stabbed into my heart and I left in tears...I do hope and pray for his recovery, and perhaps she meant no harm in what she said, none the less, I do believe in God...I haven't yet figured out the "why" with my son's injury...probably never will and anymore it doesn't really matter...it is what it is, as I've heard many of you say...

That's a good example of what I'm talking about...the myths of "if you just work hard enough, pray hard enough, etc." that only serve to make people who don't reach a certain level of "recovery" feel guilty for not doing this or that. I'm sorry you had this experience. Don't let the crazzies get you down. I've been reading your posts and you sound like a great mother to me! You're right, "it is what it is" and in time it will be what it will be!

[arndog]

Judy -
That must have been hard when they said that to you. I would have to cool off and count to ten before answering her.
That boy may be in denial. I am not seeing any motor function at all in his legs within the KAFOs but I have no idea what level he is, is he complete or incomplete or what.
My heart goes out to them and I hope he discovers para sports, he looks like a strong kid.
jon

[vjls]

Originally Posted by Danine

That's a good example of what I'm talking about...the myths of "if you just work hard enough, pray hard enough, etc." that only serve to make people who don't reach a certain level of "recovery" feel guilty for not doing this or that. I'm sorry you had this experience. Don't let the crazzies get you down. I've been reading your posts and you sound like a great mother to me! You're right, "it is what it is" and in time it will be what it will be!

i know what you mean. i get so pissws at the grocery store there is always someone who will see me getting ready to get in my van the lift is down. oh i want 1 of those or i sure would like your chair . here take it i will gladly change
but.......