Since that day, Brad has persevered from the life-altering accident to become a man more focused than ever on having a positive impact on this world and a high quality of life.  He also happens to be a VJ for The Pacific Institute‘s “Discovering the Power in Me“.  Brad has an incredible sense of self-efficacy.  He continues to be an avid outdoorsman and has hiked the physically and mentally exhausting Pacific Trail.  He is producing a documentary of the journey he and nine friends took on the trail.  Check out the preview below.  If you would like to be a part of financially supporting the completion of his movie, you can contact Brad at poobala@hotmail.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

His body may be seated, but his spirit is standing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information about Discovering The Power In Me (DPM) please visit my page on this program here.

The contest would eventually be won by Jimmy Peng.  Jess Harter gave a nice write up and pics for the East Valley Tribune here.  Even better than the the $500 that Jimmy won and the publicity that Flancer’s received, was the nearly $20,000 that was raised for the Wounded Warriors Project with Disabled Sports USA.  Kirk Bauer is the Executive Director of the program and has been involved in the Flancer’s fundraiser for a few years now.  However, this was his first time down to Arizona to see the contest live, in action.  He was a very gregarious, encouraging, and outgoing man.

Having a disability himself, Greg has a deep personal passion for helping others achieve success in life.  He lives this success himself.  He finished the Boston Marathon in 2000, winning in the Mobility Impaired class.  He is a fantastic man involved in a wonderfully effective organization.  It was very encouraging to see.

I also met a member of the Board of Disabled Sports USA, Gregg Baumgarten.  He lives and works locally in Arizona with Arizona Disabled Sports.  We hit it off quickly and he told me about the Desert Challenge that was commencing that afternoon.  He invited me to the archery competition and following luncheon.  It was incredible to see the successes achieved by the athletes in the competition, all with varying physical disabilities.

I got to meet many talented athletes and their families.  It was so very beautiful to see the comeradery amongst the competition.  Lane Jeppesen told me all about the organization and it’s purpose.  She clearly believes in the athletes that she works with and sees how their success in competition carries over into success and happiness in life.  The disabled athlete community in Arizona is clearly strong and thriving.  Gregg and Lane have a lot to be proud of.  I’m looking forward to getting more involved with this community in the near future.

All in all, it was an amazing day!

Today I got to spend some time with Aaron Blackstone.  Aaron is an associate of The Pacific Institute and lives in West Seattle.

When he was a teenager, he was a top athlete in his school in soccer, wrestling, and track.  He also was highly involved in competitive horseback riding year round.  A car accident changed all of that.  He experienced significant brain trauma and spent 13 weeks in a coma.  He lost the use of many of his normal bodily functions.  He needed to re-learn how to read, eat, speak, bathe, etc.  His life was significantly different than it was before the accident.

What I was struck by most about Aaron, who has now lived more of his life with the injury than before it, was his glow.  He is an absolutely positive person.  His days aren’t “good”, they are “great”.  He lights up a room when he walks in and does even more when he opens his mouth.  Everything about who Aaron is now is for the good of the world.  He wants to and is changing people’s lives with his perspective on life.  It may have been having a near death experience, or it may just have been the supportive family that stood by him and lifted him up, year after year.  Aaron has all of the maturity of someone who has gone through difficult life experiences, but very little of the bitterness that can be associated with that.

He has kept a journal for over 15 years that is now over 2,000 pages long.  In it, he takes the principles of life that he picks up along the way, and personally applies them to his life.  He uses the words “I” and “me” as he builds affirmations about himself.  He looks at his accident as a gift.  It has changed the course of his life in a way that he would not want to take back if he could.

If anyone could claim to be a victim in life, it would be Aaron, but fortunately, he does not choose to.  I make the same choice today as well.