13 years ago I had to relearn how to walk. Today, I’m stronger than I ever thought I could be.
I’ve been debating whether to share this here, but I figured my story might give someone who is struggling with their recovery a little bit of hope.
In 2013, I had a hiking accident where I fell 30 feet from a collapsing rock cliff. I shattered one vertebra and fractured another. The impact severely damaged my spinal cord. It was crushed, but thankfully not severed.
I was incredibly lucky.
I had to be helicoptered out and had three emergency surgeries over the following two days. The surgeons removed bone fragments discs and ultimately fused my spine from L1 to L5.
I had to be airlifted by helicopter and my back was in shambles immediately after surgery.
The recovery was long. I spent a good amount of time in the hospital and had to essentially relearn how to walk properly. At the time, I had no idea what my life would look like years later.
Fast forward to 2026, and this is what my back/body looks like today.
I'm not sharing these photos because I think everyone with a fusion needs to look like this. Far from it. Everyone's injury, surgery, recovery, and limitations are different, and I know how fortunate I am to have had the outcome I've had.
I'm sharing them because for me, staying active and trying to build as much strength as I safely can has made a huge difference in how I live with my fusion.
That doesn't mean I'm pain-free. I still have plenty of days where my back, hips, legs, or nerves remind me that I had a pretty bad injury. There are exercises I can't do, movements I have to modify, and days when my body simply doesn't cooperate.
But overall, being active has given me a much better quality of life than I ever imagined I would have after that accident.
If you're early in your recovery, or you're having a particularly bad stretch right now, I just want to say: keep going.
Your recovery may not look like mine. You may have limitations that I don't have, or complications that I was lucky enough to avoid. Don't compare your body or your timeline to anyone else's.
But if you're able to move, strengthen, walk, swim, lift, stretch, do physical therapy, or simply take another step today… keep going.
I'm incredibly grateful to the doctors, family, and friends who helped me get from that helicopter to where I am today.
And I'm proud of myself, too. Not because I somehow “beat” my injury, but because I kept working on myself for the last 13 years and didn't let the worst day of my life define the rest of it.
For anyone else here with a fusion, or anyone who's struggling with their recovery: I hope things get better for you. It can be a long road, but there can be a lot of life on the other side of it.