Three states, 12,000 feet of climbing over three mountain passes, 206 miles, killer views, must be done before sunset, my goal was to finish in less than 10 hours! LOTOJA, is a bike race that changed my life, from thinking 'what am I doing', to overcoming obstacles, including breaking my neck.
My crazy story with LOTOJA all started a couple years before when my parents, unbeknownst to me, signed me up for LOTOJA as part of a family trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming. I was about to return from a 2 year LDS Mission where I learned to speak Mandarin Chinese while serving my church in Taiwan. Upon returning to the united states, My parents finally told me about the race they had signed me up for. They said they didn't want to worry or distract me,
…show more content…
Enjoying the wind rushing around my body, I remember feeling free, watching the earth pass by so quickly. Immediately after waving to a fellow cyclist, I looked back to the road, and realized that I had taken the corner too wide going too fast! I didn’t know it at the time, but my Strava GPS tracking later said I was going 53 mph. I went off the edge of the road. After hitting a sage brush I flew then tumbled for 40+ feet. I ended up with a broken neck and jumped facet between vertebra c6 and c7. At the time I thought I had just gotten the wind knocked out of me, and maybe some sense beat into me. I thought that I would be ok, although I knew that my bike was not. I called my bride to come save me and give me a ride home. I took the day off, thinking that I just needed some time to recover and to tough it out. After a few days I finally went to the doctor. They told me that I was lucky to be alive, and began to chastise me for not coming in sooner. They told me that I should not be walking, or doing anything else for that matter ever again. After talking further, they told me that I had a chance of making a full recovery after surgery. They told me that surgery was an absolute must and recovery would take at least a year. Immediately I was put on an activity restriction, meaning no more of the physical demands of my body. I was given a 15 pound weight restriction, meaning I could not lift more than a single gallon of milk. All of the
- winning a Sri Chinmoy 12-hour race near San Francisco in 1989, covering almost 78 miles,
There are many things that have molded me into the person I am today such as being born into a family with four children. With three siblings, I have been forced to be able to work out problems from stealing each other’s toys to having to rush to the emergency room to get stiches because my brother chased me around the house and I tripped. My mother, father, brother, and two sisters were all born in Pennsylvania and I am the odd ball and I was born in Adrian, Michigan. From when I was a child I always loved being involved with sports because of my competitive nature. I grew up playing soccer and having success with that but then my love changed and I began playing lacrosse and football. I started playing lacrosse in middle school and played
When I went into the doctors, I remember sitting there not thinking I would need more than one surgery and it would be an easy thing to fix. My first doctor was more a back doctor than a leg doctor which he no one seemed to tell me. After my first surgery, I started falling all the time and we did not know what was going on. We called the doctor and he told us to come back in; next realize he is taking more X-rays. I remember he had the coldest hands and when he came in the tell us the news he could look us in the eyes. He told us how he was more a spine doctor and and did not know what to do. We ended up seeing a sport doctor in Appleton that told us that I was bone on bone and my meniscus was gone, which could have been provided if he would not have cut my meniscus in a C-shape but, first cut my femur
I am an undocumented student at UC Davis. When I am asked a simple question such as, "describe your personal experiences", I ask myself: Where do I begin?
One thing that really bothers me is how much I changed. I used to play games all day, not focus on school, wouldn't get in serious trouble, and was very innocent compared to my present day self. There are cons and pros of my past self compared to how I am currently. I am more happy of how I am now then I am before. As time changes, so do I and I can not stop that. What’s done has already been done and can’t be changed so you always have to look towards the future and never the past. The past will not definite who you are today unless you let it. I would have never expect that I would be transferred to a continuation high school in my freshman year. It is a bad thing to many people, but I am thankful that I am sent to it because I will learn
It seems unbelievable my oldest is a few days off being a decade old. I know every parent wonders “where has the time gone?” a multitude of times during their children’s childhoods, but as I realize my son is over halfway to 'adulthood' it seems like the time has flown by.
The struggle of not being able to breathe properly, gasping for air while the fever inside was killing me little by little and my fragile self in the age of four did not know what was happening to me I was brain dead, more like clueless little kid almost having a near death experience of having a seizure that in the end it changed my life and the way I looked at it because God gave me another chance to actually prove to him that I can be someone in my life and grateful to be alive today knowing that I have family that actually loves me for who I am.
What caused this very unfortunate situation? Let me answer that for you. You were in a serious motorcycle crash and had to have many medical operations. Why so many operations? You weren't wearing a helmet.
Throughout the course of my sixteen-year old life, I have experienced the unfortunate incident of taking a trip to the emergency room several times. The majority of them however were only for the typical injuries of an individual who shares in my liking for an adrenaline rush, and a lack of common sense. I never actually considered being seriously injured as a possible consequence of my actions. Of course, I have never tried to attempt any incredibly dangerous act without thinking it completely through. Nonetheless, previously I thought being alive could consistently be taken for granted, and as a result I never felt as thankful for living as I should have been. It was not until January 2009 that I truly was in a situation where I was in danger of losing my life, and ironically I had no responsibility in causing the incident.
It has been around 14 hours since I have gotten back from the Freshmen Retreat, and I happy to be able to write about the success of the trip in all parts, regarding my personal goal, what I learned about my fellow advisory peers, and realizing a bit more about myself.
The time came again I went through the exact same thing; it was becoming a monotonous task. I would have surgery recover, go through rehab, train, and it would start all over again. After the fourth surgery, it seemed to be all over. The surgeon said “It will be wonderful to not see you again” in a joking manner.This time my recovery was going to last. I went from barely walking to jogging , and ultimately running several miles a day. I finally was experiencing normal tween things such as riding bikes with friends on a bright and windy summers
I am by myself wearing my blue jeans and an old flannel shirt. It is cool outside but I decided to leave my gloves at home, feeling comfortable with my warm shirt and my sturdy boots.
After three hours we arrived at our first break stop. We stopped at a section that was on top of the waterfall. The view was amazing and spectacular because we had never seen anything like this. As we continued our hike after several more break stops, and nine more hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the top of El Capitan. Once we got to the top the view was amazing. We could not imagine how beautiful it was up there on top of the world. After about half an hour we started heading back down, when all of a sudden out of no where I felt someone push me out of the way. A man that was in a hurry to get back down pushed me so hard, that I lost my balance and fell of a twenty foot cliff. At that moment in time I could see flashbacks of my life. After a couple seconds of falling I somehow landed between two rocks which shattered my right foot. After that happen every one that was there tried to get help but unfortunately cell phones do not work in Yosemite, but the man that pushed me over the cliff had a walky-talky and he called for help.
My father had broken his pelvis in 4 places. He looked helpless and miserable, something I had never seen until that day. Over time, he learned how to use his lower body again. With the help of my family and the support of his friends, my dad started to get better. The doctors said he would never be able to walk again, but within three months of living in his parents’ house in a hospital bed, being taken care of like a child, he gained back his strength and is better than before. Besides the emotional trauma this incident left on my family, it’s physically like the accident never even happened.
Oh my God! TJ!“ It was just my mom.She was crying and calling my name again and again.I was so embarrassed and disappointed of my self.I had let her down. After, two of the EMT guys put us on an ambulance. Finally,we made our way to the hospital. My friend john and me were sent in palo alto medical center. It took us about fifteen minute to get there. My friend john was alright. He had a couple of stitches in his head and his arm. He got relieved after a couple of tests but, I was severely injured. I was lying on a hospital bed and thinking what I would have done in the past. Cause this terrible accident happened to me. I was sent to el camino hospital, where I went to the operation theater for my hipbones surgery.The doctor told me after surgery that my hipbones was fractured the reason they had to put a plate in hipbones to stay together.Although, my left arm was also fractured the reason I could not feel my arm. After surgery, they took me to the other room and gave me a couple of injections. Momentarily, I went to sleep. I woke up in the next day and thinking hopefully it was just a dream,but it’s not. I opened my eyes and saw a couple of relative looking me like a stranger. My dad came over my bed and gave me a hug and I literally started crying after thinking about the accident. I could not believe after a massive car accident I was still alive. Doctors kept in hospital couple of