Doug Barker Teulon, Manitoba, Canada

c5/c6, January 1993

I was a 28 year old Journeyman Electrician with a wife and two small children. My last hockey game. The game started like most games, my first shift was fast with a couple of hits to set the tone. This was my last year, I was retiring at the end of the season. My second shift of the game proved to be my retirement shift. I caught a rut in the ice, went head first into the boards breaking my neck.
My family was told to prepare for the worst. If I survived I would never walk or have use of my hands again.
In hindsight I achieved the unthinkable, I survived, sentencing myself and my family to a life long sentence of pain, hardship and yes, humiliation.
I was a shell of my former self and I wanted to die. The humiliation and indignities are sometimes, almost too much to handle.
There is no such thing as 'private life' for us now. Our lives are 'invaded' by nurses and aids.
We are all 'getting on' with our lives and achieving some great things despite our spinal cord injuries. Why, because we must!

Full Story at:
http://www.freewebs.com/questforthespinalinjurycure/mystory.htm