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The best of times It was the best of times. I was a healthy 31 year old police officer. I was a competitive triathlete, and I loved challenging myself in triathlons, biathlons, road races, and other endurance events that allowed me to test my physical limits. For many years I skied in the winter, took Spin classes and played basketball at the gym, and lived a fairly carefree life. I loved my job, I had great friends and family, and I shared my condo with my beloved yellow Lab, Shamu. I can’t think of much I would have changed about those days. The bicycle ride that changed my life On May 26, 1998, I went for a bicycle ride that changed my life. I was training for an upcoming AIDS-Ride, a three-day, 300+ mile ride that raised money for people living with AIDS in the Washington, D.C. area. As I pedaled along under the hot afternoon sun, I was hit from behind by a motor vehicle, and in addition to a traumatic brain injury and a laundry list of broken bones, I sustained a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed at the chest. It was without a doubt the very worst of times. With no recollection of the accident or how I’d ended up in the hospital, my friends and family delivered the news. It is an understatement to say we were living in uncertain times. Would I walk again? Drive a car? Work? Laugh? Where would I live? How would I deal with the neuropathic pain that was far more debilitating than any soreness I’d ever experienced after a triathlon? Could I live on my own? How much quality of life would I enjoy? People told me I was lucky I’d survived the accident. I wasn’t so sure. Nothing about my situation felt “lucky”. I’m lucky I survived that accident As I sit here now, approaching the 18th anniversary of the accident AND my 50th birthday, I can say that things have turned out okay. There is nothing fun about having a spinal cord injury, and I certainly miss many aspects of my old life. But I have more good days than bad. I’ve discovered new hobbies that bring me pleasure. I have a job that allows me to live comfortably. I’ve retained a number of very close friends from my pre-injury days, and I’ve made many new ones, too. I continue to feel fortunate to have been born into the family I was, and although I mourned deeply when I lost Shamu in September 2003, I have since October 2004 shared my days and nights with another Labrador retriever, this one a male named Ocho. I’m lucky I survived that accident. My love for traveling I have always loved to travel. When my brothers and I were young, our parents and grandparents took us to many of the beaches along the east coast of the United States - the Florida Keys; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Nags Head, North Carolina; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; and all the way north to the frigid but clear waters of Wells, Maine, where we could sit on a raft and watch sand crabs crawl along the ocean floor below us. As an adult, I have grown particularly fond of tropical beaches, and from my home in northern Virginia it is easy to reach a number of Caribbean islands. This summer I am going to the west coast of Puerto Rico with my mom, who has become my best friend and greatest travel buddy in the years since my accident, and my brother Rick and his 14 year old son Roger. Mom and I will meet Rick and Roger in San Juan, and after spending two nights there, we’ll rent a car and drive over to the surf town of Rincon for a few days of scuba diving. Either you choose to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out into the ocean My hero Christopher Reeve once said, “Either you choose to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out into the ocean.” I learned the first time I went scuba diving (Acapulco, 2005) that going out into the ocean is a lot more fun than staying in the shallow end of the pool.

He is a tremendously hard worker with a great deal of patience and focus for his age Our son, Angelo was born with spina bifida. For the first 2.5 years of life he was bombarded with multiple surgeries. At the tiny age of 21 months, Angelo learned how to pop his front wheels (casters) off the ground. Thus, began his love/obsession with the wheelie. Because of Angelo's tenacity and joy of learning we sought to introduce him to sports. While at the tender age of 2 (& 1 week), we began watching local rugby practices and Angelo was hooked. Like any kid, he liked to ram other people and/or things. Surfing, kayaking, Chair-skating, boxing, basketball and horseback riding followed later that same year. Fast forward to 6 years of age, he is periodically doing, seasonally participating in or regularly practicing 16 sports! Yes, Angelo keeps us very busy, but he has always taken the initiative after being introduced to something new. He is a tremendously hard worker with a great deal of patience and focus for his age. Sports and at-home-workouts have provided an outlet for built up energy and personal expression that have only improved his focus towards academics and learning in general.

When I was 14 months old I sustained a c4/5 incomplete spinal cord injury Hi, I'm Patrick. When I was 14 months old I sustained a c4/5 incomplete spinal cord injury when a distracted driver backed over me as my mom and I were passing behind his car. I started playing sports when I was 4 and competed in rugby, basketball and soccer growing up. I started surfing when I was 8 after seeing the documentary Step Into Liquid. Jesse Billauer, who stars in the film, is a professional surfer who broke his neck on a sand bar and has the same level injury as me. I got involved with his organization Life Rolls On, which raises money for spinal cord injury research and provides quality of life events such as surf and skate clinics. I just graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts focusing on producing. Over the last 13 years I've gotten sponsored, traveled to Costa Rica to film a surf documentary, surfed in the US Open 9 times and was one of the athletes chosen to represent Team USA at the 2015 ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship. I just graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts focusing on producing. I interned at Funny or Die and produced one of their videos last year and I am currently working as a PA and Producer's Assistant on a feature starring James Franco, Camilla Belle and Summer Phoenix.