Cotton
McCulloch
I suffered my spinal cord injury on March 29th 2003. I
was thrown from my vehicle and the landing broke my spine
at T-4 and T-5. Luckily is was an incomplete injury,
meaning the cord itself was never severed, only badly
bruised. The doctors sis all they could for me by fusing
my spine with rods and screws, then telling me that I had
a 50/50 chance of regaining any mobility, I spent two
months in the hospital learning what they called
Occupational Therapy where my body was put to extreme
tests of grilled cheese sandwich making and top shelf
reaching. I could control the muscles in my legs but the
walking I did achieve was hunched over some Canadian
crutches with an AFO on one leg and my body pumped full
of every drug they could sell me. Walking full time was
not possible for me and they said I had reached a
"plateau in my progress" so they could no longer help me,
"please leave".
Searching for alternative solutions to the idea of one
day escaping the wheelchair I was in, I found the Sit
Tall Stand Tall program. Leighton was the first step in a
long process of uprooting myself from the surroundings I
loved, to move to Utah and dedicate my time and efforts
to a goal I realized was quite possible no matter what
the doctors believed. I have been here ever since and
after clearing my body of any unnecessary medications and
ridding myself of useless equipment I began to walk
around each day without using a wheelchair. Slowly I have
gotten to the point now where I can walk around even
without the use of canes and am on the verge of never
having to use an assistive device at all.