A New World

Hi my name is Christopher Anderson,I was born in Waupun Wisconsin in 1966. During a fall night in 2002 I was a passenger in a car that struck a tree on the right side of it. At the time I was playing with the radio so I was bent over,which turns out is the position that saved my life. I was pinned under the dash and could not move,and when I looked down I saw a bone in my leg sticking out,so I knew I was seriously hurt because I could not feel anything.

I looked at the driver which was my friend and told him to call 911. At the. Time all that happened to him was a cut on his arm from my eyeglasses, when rescue arrived I had known the whole squad. The guy looked at me and said, "Chris you are still awake,I replied yes I am get me out of here."

So after an hour of cutting and bending the car up I was able to be extracted and then taken to a rescue helicopter for transport. After all my surgeries and everything that I been through I ended up with my right leg amputated and I was also paralyzed from the T6 T7 level. I really knew then that my life would change forever, but I had some hope yet in the back of my mind and when I finally began rehab I then had seen that there were people in much more worse shape than me. I thought to myself wow there is hope maybe my life wouldn't be that bad.

From that moment on I excelled at everything that was thrown at me. After 3 and a half months of being impatient at the hospital, it was time to start my journey and go home and experience the world from a wheelchair.

I had to move in with my parents be cause I really was homeless. So it took some time to get the house adapted to me and vice versa. As for friends and family my life changed also because I lost so many, family members wouldn't talk to me and friends abandoned me.

So I moved on with my life and started living in a seated position, and I have to say I kinda excelled at that to because I had the right attitude,after a year with my parents I bought my own place and started living on my own.

It was scary I will not lie, but I kept moving forward with life and am still moving forward. I lived on my own for 13 years untill I met an amazing woman who loves me for me,so I then left everyone behind and moved to Ohio.

I have a great life and wouldn't change anything for all the tea in Boston. I understand it is hard to have your life changed in such a way that everything changes for you but if you just believe and have faith in yourself you can achieve anything.

Life is what you make of it,and if you are one who has to do it from a wheelchair,then you adapt to your life the best way that you can, you can still achieve anything that you want to in life if you just try a little harder and make it happen. My goal is to be a speaker and travel around the country and talk with people about how they can have anything in life if you just believe and have faith in the journey.