Betheny Winkler Yukon, OK, USA

C 5-6 incomplete, August 2000

When I was paralyzed in 2000, I didn't know how much of my past was salvageable. I was employed as a medical laboratory technician. I was a wife, mom to an 11 yr. old son, a student, an avid traveller and scubadiver.

Some of that was lost when I was injured. I no longer have the finger function for medical laboratory work. The loss of income took away most of my travel opportunities. I'm still a wife and mom-Jake is 17 now.

They say that when a door closes, a window opens. I've tried to make the best of this new, altered life. Advocacy for a cure for paralysis, for myself and others, has become a major passion.

I had the good fortune to be injured at 40. Most people aren't so fortunate. The average spinal cord injury happens to age groups 18 to 35. These are young people that deserve to live their lives fully. They shouldn't have to fight their bodies to fulfill their destinies.