Neuro Note #4- A broken body isn't a broken person
A broken body isn't a broken person
I chose to watch the Ted Talk, "A broken body isn't a broken person" by Janine Shepherd. Janine was training to become an olympic skier. The day of her accident, she was bike riding with her friends through the mountains in Sydney, Australia. She describes the day as sunny, refreshing, and overall a good day. With only ten minutes left of the ride, her whole life changed. She was hit by a speeding truck and was airlifted to a hospital and upon arrival lost five liters of blood with a blood pressure of forty over nothing. She broke her neck, her collarbone, her right arm, five ribs, and six places in her back. Her whole right side of her body was ripped open, leading to internal injuries and bleeding as well. Ten days later when she woke up, she had back surgery where they picked out her vertebrae from her spinal cord and used her ribs as her new spine and fused them together. Her surgery was a success but the damage was already done. She had no feeling in her waist down but could move her toes, so she was considered a partial paraplegic. A partial paraplegic or paralysis means the lower half of the body is paralyzed. The doctor said she would never walk again and needed to rethink her whole life. When she was moved to the acute spinal care unit, is where she realized she was not alone. After six months in the hospital, she was able to go home. Once at home, she was depressed and wondered where she would be had the accident not occurred. Janine said one day she was sitting at home in her wheelchair when a plane flew by. She told herself, "If I can't walk, I might as well fly." She had her first flight lesson in a body cast barely able to move her body. From there, she went on to gain her private pilot license then her two engine license and then became an aerobatic flight instructor. This all happened eighteen months after being discharged from the hospital. During her flight school, she focused on walking again. She was able to get to the point that she did not need anyone holding her up and was able to walk around the house using the walls. In the Ted Talk video, Janine is walking proudly. My favorite line from her story was, "my body might be limited, it was my spirit that was unstoppable."
I chose this Ted Talk because the title stood out to me. Five minutes into the video, I was captivated by her story and by the end was inspired by her motivation and drive. In relation to my class Neuro Aspects, I learned that being a walking paraplegic is possible. We are currently learning about spinal cord injuries so it felt good to connect the material to her story. I think anyone learning about spinal cord injuries should hear personal experiences from the survivors. After hearing Janine's story, it makes me confident I chose the right career choice. It also gave me ideas for my future clients and how to be there for them if this is something they are experiencing. Janine stated she had to let go of who she thought she was to create the life she now has. On the Ted Talk website, in the biography of the speaker it says she is now a commercial and aerobatics instructor, motivational speaker, an author, a mother, and a champion cross country skier in training for the Calgary Olympics. She has so much drive and I hope anyone who has or is currently experiencing something similar is able to listen to her story, so it is linked below.
References
J. Shepherd. (2012, Nov). A broken body isn't a broken person. Ted Talk. https://www.ted.com/speakers/janine_shepherd
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