One Sunday morning Tom Bartlett and I we were shuttling canoes and he says to me, "Why don't you start a blog and share your story. See what paddling has done for other people." Here it goes.

    It was a brisk September afternoon in Winter Park, Co.  elevation 9100 ft.  My friend Josh and I were riding to the head of our favorite trail, "Leapfrog."  It was to be our last ride for the year, because the snow was coming and I was getting ready to move to Hawaii.  Once we reached the trail head we "rock-scissor-paper for who was to go first.  Leapfrog was a trail with lots of technical lines, rock drops, ladder bridges, teeter totters, everything a free rider needs.  We prided ourselves in the fact that we could ride this trail clean.  Long story short, I came off a rock, a rock that I was complacently comfortable with, wrong and broke three vertebrae in my neck.  C3-4 and 5 to be exact.  I lay on the ground paralyzed from the neck down.  Luckily for me the feeling came back after about ten minutes.  Against my friends wishes I got up.  Half my body didn't work so good but I got out and got to an ambulance.  Got to the hospital, they did the xrays, put bolts in my head, gave me some morphine, sent me to surgery, put some bolts and rods in my neck, a bunch of other stuff yada yada yada.
   I didn't have much strength or mobility left in my neck and shoulders after that.  Then began what was to be the long painful rehabilitation saga.  My insurance agency would cover part of 16 visits and that took about one month to complete.  After that I couldn't afford to keep going there, P.T. is expensive.  I had some exercises I could do that would help with the mobility, so I did those.  My finance' tried to get me to paddle.  I resisted at first, but eventually I gave in and went to a practice with Niumalu Canoe Club.  She was right again and I was hooked.  I went out and bought my own paddle.  We ran, swam, paddled, stretched and had a great time.  I ended up buying myself an oc-1.  Once Napali was over and the oc-6 season was over I slowly started to get to know my one-man.  I've gotten to know it pretty well and I am continuing to enjoy learning it with a great bunch of people.
   During this whole learning experience, I gained tons of strength,and mobility, in my neck.  It is more affordable for me to paddle than go to P.T. and I get to enjoy the ocean.  I continue to gain strength every time I go out.  Paddling has done a lot for me, what's it done for you?

See you out there,

Chuck