The Power of Never Giving Up

When they told me the spinal injury was permanent, I felt my world shrink to the size of a hospital bed. The prognosis was clinical: no feeling below the waist, confined to a chair for life.

I started with a specialized physical therapist who specialized in micro-movements. For six months, my only achievement was twitching my left big toe. It was exhausting, agonizing work for a millimeter of progress.

But a millimeter is infinitely larger than zero.

Last month, five years after my accident, I crossed the finish line of a 5K. As I walked across that line, crying, I knew that the human spirit is infinitely stronger than any clinical diagnosis.