August 19, 2024
Apples to Apples
Quinn Brett
Although the core of the apple exists, you cannot see it from the outside. The only way to prove the core’s existence is to cut the apple open.
- Yukio Mishima
When I returned home from an adaptive hiking adventure in the Grand Canyon last fall, I was reminded of how lucky I am to have full use of my hands and arms as a paraplegic. While I understand the variations in injury level and the subsequent secondary conditions to a degree that makes them clearly obvious, I also exist in my own apple, focused on the issues at my own core. It takes effort to imagine and be compassionate to the other apples out there.
Rob Wudlick river guiding in the Grand Canyon prior to his 2011 accident
My friend and fellow SCI community member Rob and I were jabbering over my adventure when he said something that stuck. “Quinn,” he said, “what is it going to take to get me back to the bottom of that canyon again?” I heard his question not as a ‘let's figure it out with horses and helicopters’ sorta-way. This statement, Rob’s injury, a higher level quadriplegic, reminded me of the apple core. While we are both paralyzed, I inherently have access to so much of my body and therefore more of the world.
Rob was a river guide and was injured diving into the water running through the Grand Canyon. Yes, we could arrange an expedition to return Rob back into that wild place again, it would be incredible. While we plan for Rob’s trip, we should also be working to solve the core problem —- Rob’s spinal cord injury and subsequent paralysis. The goal should be for Rob to return to the river on his own accord— and this return can come in many stages of return of function. Give Rob functional recovery of his hands to grasp a paddle or fully working lung capacity to exert himself for more than a few minutes.
This goal, these functional recovery gains are happening in real time with spinal cord research and U2FP’s work is leading the way— putting bills in states and dollars in researchers' hands to keep progressing. Your monthly donations have tangible benefits to people with a spinal cord injury, their friends and family.
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