It’s been six years since John's automobile accident. Our lives changed catastrophically during that first year and incrementally improved every year since. We learned how cruel and how rewarding the resolve to live could be. We found previously unknown depth in our son’s character and in the bonds our son had made with his community. His overwhelming loss of physical and cognitive capabilities has not ground him into despondency, his dreams, ambition, and drive have prevented our own. Our friends and our family continue to provide lift to those dreams and ambitions fueling that drive.

In the very first months after John’s accident, as each day gave hope that John could survive his accident, each day also unfolded the severity and totality of his injuries.  As John emerged from a coma to a persistent vegetative state, intubated so he could not scream, John involuntarily pounded his left arm against the rails of his bed in pain, hour after hour, day after day, week over week despite the narcotic mix of Vicodin, Oxycodone, Morphine and Fentanyl meant to blunt the pain, our only sense of John’s consciousness beyond his eyes ability to react to a pen light.

Great effort and commitment from the teams of medical providers, friends and family sustained John and us through that first year. When John first returned home, he was tube fed, incontinent, and a hundred percent lift. If shown a picture after ten minutes John could say the word pen, or comb, or spoon. But John could smile and light up a room with his eyes.

Consistent access to multiple modalities of therapy and exercise as well as continuous and ever-increasing encouragement and engagement provided a pathway for John and his family to continue to recover.

John continues to attend the Adaptive Fitness and Performance training program at UW- Madison once a week. He attends speech therapy twice a week at UWSP. He has bi-weekly appointments with his clinical physical therapist and weekly remote physical therapy sessions conducted jointly with his aunt Mary facilitated by Leslie. John has a weekly workout with a physical trainer at the local YMCA. Once or twice a week there is a remote hourly workout session with other attendees of the adaptive fitness program at UW-Madison.

John walks himself around the home independently with a cane and walks up and down stairs. We provide balance but are no longer required to provide lift. His wheel chair is reserved for distance and crowds. Johns’ memory has improved and is exceptional if the subject involves a fatherly faux pas. With great dedication and the physical and emotional support of his friends at the Shermalot Ski Team, John was able to appear on a slalom ski (assisted on a boom) in a water skis show this past summer. John plans with his Nordic Mountain instructor and friend, Jason, to make at least one run snow skiing standing up (in a ski standing frame) this coming season. John is getting a lot of practice in a static standing frame and on a Bosu Ball to prepare him for this next adventure. Friday’s you can see John at Milkweed Market manning a counter. On weekends in the summer, you can enjoy on our section of the Wisconsin River the fruits of his Friday cheese curd pickup and delivery runs for the Sand Bar boat and bar. John has also attended two Green Bay Packer football games and weekly grumbles about the current state of play by the Wisconsin Badger football team, but he is highly encouraged by UW’s volleyball team.

From the remnants of the tragedy  that shattered his world, John has carved out a meaningful life for himself. He shares that life with us, his family and friends, and increasingly with others. John's experience has improved our lives as he has given us a whole new appreciation for humanity and the capacity for the human spirit to endure.