Why SPINALpedia?

The injuries my dad sustained in his car accident were severe enough to put off any initial plans for adapting to life with disability—he had to survive first. Once he cleared the first major health hurdles, we were all then faced with the question, “what now?!”My dad’s accident left him with a broken neck at the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae, paralyzing him from the chest down and robbing him of the use of his fingers. All of us wanted to return to a “normal” life as soon as possible, but adding wheels, mobility limitations and new terminology made that a bit challenging. We barely knew what the word quadriplegic meant, let alone had any concept of what it meant to live with a disability.

At the time, we felt completely isolated, but the longer I’ve worked within this community the more I realize how many people have actually found themselves in similar situations—lost, confused, scared, and unfortunately, oftentimes hopeless. With the way the world works now and the prevalence and efficiency of technology, there is no reason anyone experiencing these life altering situations needs to figure out how to do it on their own. Adaptation is born out of collaboration of people in a similar situation overcoming similar problems.This is the idea behind SPINALpedia, our new video sharing resource that harnesses technology to ensure that our community can establish a new paradigm, a new standard for life with paralysis. People living productive, healthy lives with paralysis need not be an anomaly, nor should people feel their life is over. There is a way to make things work in new ways, to overcome the challenges, and together, we will create a living manual for life with altered mobility. The time is now, it comes down to us!

What was your experience like in the beginning? We’d love to see your video on our site!