ROAR

♿️ EDUCATION AFTER A SPINAL CORD INJURY

Before my spinal cord injury, my life revolved around service—in the United States Marine Corps and law enforcement. I had no aspirations of pursuing advanced college degrees. I had a direction, and higher education wasn’t a major part of that plan.

Then a C7 spinal cord injury left me a quadriplegic, and I had to reconsider what my future could look like.

🎓 Pursuing higher education seemed like a logical next “step”—an opportunity to build new skills, regain direction, and find another avenue to contribute. My desire to serve hadn’t disappeared. I needed to explore how to carry it forward and what knowledge and tools would help me do so.

According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center’s 2026 report, approximately 312,000 people in the United States live with traumatic spinal cord injuries.

Among participants represented in its education data, about 24% had a college degree or higher at injury, compared with approximately 30% at 10 years and 44% at 40 years after injury. These figures describe educational attainment at different points after injury, rather than the percentage who returned to school. Still, they underscore the relevance of education in conversations about life after SCI.

However, earning a degree and finding sustainable employment are two vastly different challenges.

Someone can have the education, knowledge, and motivation to succeed in a job while needing flexibility for personal care, fatigue, pain, medical appointments, and unpredictable health complications. A diploma doesn’t eliminate those needs.

⚖️ Then there are the financial decisions. Will higher earnings affect the healthcare or personal assistance you depend on? Can a job’s wages and benefits actually replace that support? Work incentives can help some people maintain coverage, but eligibility and individual circumstances matter.

Some people find themselves qualified for more than their jobs offer, yet unable to pursue additional hours, higher earnings, or career advancement without serious concerns about their health and support systems.

We need accessible education, flexible employment, inclusionary college campuses, fair pay, and benefit policies that make advancement practical while accounting for the complexities of living with permanent disabilities. Educational opportunity must be accompanied by realistic pathways to put that education to use.

College isn’t the right path for everyone. A certificate, vocational training, entrepreneurship, advocacy, volunteering, or focusing on health and family may fit someone’s life better.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach in the disability world. Our worth is not measured by a degree, a paycheck, or how many hours our bodies can tolerate. This is just part of my personal SCI trek and the advocacy that continues to grow from it.

📸 Also pictured is my Marine Corps brother, fellow quadriplegic, and fellow Lander University alumnus, Michael Rousey. Our injuries occurred at different points in our lives, but our journeys share many similarities and experiences—from military service to navigating life with quadriplegia and pursuing higher education.

Joining us in these photos is another fellow Lander University alumnus, Cameron Dorn, who is pictured helping me hold the Lander flag after we completed the Marine Corps Marathon in 2023. Cameron is the founder of The Suitcase of Courage, a business development leader, an extreme athlete, and a motivational speaker among so many other things.

Sharing that finish-line moment with Cameron brought together several meaningful parts of my journey: my Marine Corps roots, my connection to Lander, and the opportunity to continue challenging myself after injury. It also speaks to the importance of having people beside us as we pursue our goals. Cameron not only pushed me physically to help finish a bucket list. Dream, he continues to motivate me to push myself to be the best version of me that I can be.

Education and life after SCI are personal journeys, but the support we receive along the way matters. Whether someone helps us navigate a classroom, pursue a career, or hold a university flag at a marathon finish line, those connections become part of our story. 🤝

💬 Did you return to school after your injury?
What degree, certification, or training did you pursue?
What helped you—and what barriers did you encounter?

Your experience may help someone else see a possibility they haven’t considered. 🤝

No matter where you currently find yourself, continue striving to be your best version of you. That may mean pursuing a new goal, adapting an existing one, or giving yourself the time and care you need to move forward.

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Challenged Athletes Foundation. The Suitcase of Courage. ROAR. Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. United Spinal Association. Mike Hudson. United Spinal Association Advocacy Network. Lander University Alumni Association. Lander University. Shepherd Center.Facing Disability for Families Facing Spinal Cord Injuries. Marine Corps Marathon.

🙌 A huge shoutout to Greenville Tech’s PT students for making this morning a highly productive workday! Several volunteered their time to stain the pier and clean up along the banks, and I truly appreciate their hard work and generosity.

♿️ Living with a spinal cord injury has reinforced for me how much our surroundings influence our independence and ability to participate. Maintaining the places where we gather, enjoy the outdoors, and connect with others is part of building a more inclusive community.

Advocacy takes many forms—including showing up, lending a hand, and putting compassion into action. These future practitioners demonstrated a commitment to serving people that extends beyond the clinic and into everyday life.

Thank you for giving your time and energy today. As we advocate for greater accessibility, let’s keep encouraging mutually beneficial partnerships like this—and include people with disabilities in the conversations and work that shape our shared spaces.

P.S A special thank you to Caesar for coordinating.

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. Greenville Technical College. Challenged Athletes Foundation. Mike Hudson. ROAR. United Spinal Association. Cabela's. Bass Pro Shops. Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Trackchair. TALK Greenville. Greenville Business Magazine

🌱 I never imagined I would be this excited about cutting grass.

🥵There was a time when mowing meant sweating in the heat, getting dusty, and thinking about everything else I would rather be doing.

Then life changes. Something you once took for granted becomes something you miss—the simple satisfaction of getting outside, doing a job, and looking back to say, “I did that.”

📦 We received a special delivery the other day, a remote-controlled lawnmower with tracks. And I’m beyond excited about what it could make possible.

🎮 For someone with limited hand dexterity, operating equipment can come down to something as small as whether they can reach and move a control. The remote is responsive, but its recessed controls can be difficult to access with limited hand function. We’re working on 3-D-printed handle extensions to make those controls easier to use. Quad friendly. ♿️

Sometimes, a small adaptation opens a much bigger door. 🔓

This mower has a practical purpose on the property, too. We have steep areas where we want to avoid putting someone on a tractor near an embankment. With careful operation within the equipment’s limits, remote control offers a way to maintain those areas while keeping the operator farther from the edge.

🙌 What excites me most is the opportunity to participate, to help care for this place, and contribute alongside family and friends.

♿️Wanting to do something for yourself doesn’t disappear when your physical abilities change.

🎣 Outdoor adaptive recreation can mean fishing, archery, or exploring a trail. It can also mean tending a garden, moving materials, or cutting the grass. Everyday work can bring enjoyment, purpose, and a connection to the outdoors that I didn’t fully appreciate before my injury.

🏡 There is something deeply restorative about fresh air, time in nature, and a task that gives your mind somewhere else to go. For me, getting outside can change the perspective I bring back inside.

🛠️ No single piece of adaptive equipment will meet everyone’s needs. That’s why we keep exploring, listening, and adapting—looking for ways to make activities safer, more accessible, and more inclusive.

🌳 Rediscovering Outdoor Activities & Recreation doesn’t have a particular season. It has a defining reason: helping people reconnect with what brings them purpose, freedom, and joy.

Find those things that excite you, however big or small. Keep looking for new ways to pursue them.

Even if that excitement comes with tracks, a remote, and a yard that needs mowing. 🌱

💬 What everyday activity did you once take for granted that you would love to do again? Have you found an adaptation that helped make it possible? Share it below—your idea might open a door for someone else.

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. . Challenged Athletes Foundation. Mike Hudson. ROAR. Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. United Spinal Association. Shepherd Center. American Association of People with Disabilities. Accessible Hunter Podcast. Cabela's. Invisible Disabilities Association. United Spinal Association Advocacy Network. SPINALpedia.

A broken wheelchair part can bring daily independence to a complete stop.

It can mean missing work, canceling appointments, depending on someone else for basic tasks, or being confined to bed while waiting for a repair.

For those of us who rely on a wheelchair, this equipment is how we move through life. Our responsibilities don’t stop when our chair does.

Yet repair approvals, delays getting parts, limited access to technicians, and out-of-pocket costs can leave people waiting for equipment they need every single day. Families and caregivers carry the burden, too.

Timely repairs and access to replacement equipment must be treated as essential healthcare needs. We need healthcare and durable medical equipment (DME) policies that recognize the real consequences of leaving someone without safe, working equipment.

What has been your biggest hurdle getting your wheelchair or other essential equipment repaired or replaced? How long did you wait—and what did that wait cost you beyond money?

Share your story below. We believe lived experience belongs at the center of the push for better policies.

Independence shouldn’t be left waiting on an approval or an extended period for a medical procedure appointment.

. . . United Spinal Association. Shepherd Center. ROAR. Mike Hudson. Challenged Athletes Foundation. American Association of People with Disabilities. Friends of Disabled Adults and Children. United Spinal Association Advocacy Network. Permobil Foundation. MobilityWorks. Paralyzed Veterans of America.