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From the Baltimore Clubhouse – Almost six years ago, I was enjoying a few hours of downtime before the beginning of a two-day Oxford Club seminar focused on Latin American investment opportunities. The seminar was being held in Nicaragua, at the newly renovated clubhouse and conference center at the beautiful Rancho Santana.
My Accident
With all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed on my presentations, I was having a blast. I was body surfing in the warm Pacific Ocean with a few fellow Oxford Club strategists. Then, as sometimes happens with body surfing, a rogue wave flipped me upside down.
Most of the time, I’m far enough out and the water is deep enough that I just get tumbled around a little bit. However, I had just ridden a wave in and was heading back out for another when I saw a good one very close. I decided to take it. That turned out to be a big mistake.
I took the wave. It flipped me upside down, and it smacked my neck hard on the sand. After tumbling me around, the wave left me floating in less than a foot of water.
I tried to get up to go out and ride another wave. However, there was just one problem: I was completely paralyzed from the neck down.
There I was, facedown, unable to lift myself out of the water or turn myself over. I just lay there, hoping my friends would see me, spread-eagled and holding my breath.
Fortunately, they did. They ran to me and turned me over. My next breath would have been salt water. When I returned home to the States a few days later, I could move only the big toe on my right foot.
My Ongoing Recovery
The neurosurgical team that attended to me gave a grim prognosis: I had suffered a spinal contusion, a severe bruise to my spinal cord. The doctors thought I might never move anything else again. Fortunately, they were wrong.
Since February 2012, I’ve been slowly recovering from the devastating spinal cord injury that resulted from my accident. As of this writing, I’ve regained most of the movement of all my extremities. I’ve even started walking again, with the use of a $250,000 robotic machine called the Exoskeleton.
In the therapy pool, I am now able to walk down the eight steps into the pool. After a rigorous one-hour workout that includes walking on an underwater treadmill and unassisted walking, I am able to walk up the steps out of the pool.
For the last several years, I’ve been traveling and speaking at Oxford Club and Investment U seminars again.
This Thanksgiving marks the sixth year of my recovery.
I still have an aide who helps me with my daily tasks, since I’m still waiting to regain the full functional use of my hands. Independent living is still a little ways off. Perhaps next Thanksgiving, I’ll update you on that achievement.
I’m extremely thankful for my progress and the help and encouragement of others who have helped me get to this point. The Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, where I go for therapy, is a wonderful organization. Its board of trustees recently elected me to a six-year term. I am thrilled to be able to fill this role and give back to such a fine organization.
But there’s another organization that I’m even more thankful for. It was crucial to my recovery. It’s a small but growing medical clinic in the southwest corner of Nicaragua. Started by my boss, Julia Guth, The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic is located just outside the gates of Rancho Santana.
Help the People Who Helped Me
The Clinic’s ambulance transported me from the beach to the Clinic. There, the staff administered initial intravenous fluids and other procedures consistent with a spinal cord injury. Were it not for their quick actions and the following of proper protocols, I wouldn’t be writing to you today.
My heartfelt thanks go out to all those who helped me during those first few critical hours after my accident. You know who you are.
The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic is currently undergoing a facilities expansion that will double its size. The additional space is sorely needed to keep up with the demands of patients seeking medical services. In 2011, the number of patients quadrupled year over year.
The Clinic also hopes to buy a new X-ray machine next year.
Please consider joining me in supporting the Clinic’s expansion program. I can tell you from firsthand experience that it’s a worthy cause. You can click here if you wish to make a donation.
If you are a big user of Amazon, as I am, you can designate the Roberto Clemente-Santa Ana Health Clinic as your charity of choice at smile.amazon.com. When you do, Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase amount to the Clinic.
All your other great Amazon benefits stay the same. Just be sure to change your Amazon bookmark to smile.amazon.com. It’s another great way to provide money to this great little clinic that saved my life and saves the lives of others on a daily basis.
Best regards,
Dave