#300 Surviving the Crash: A 17-Year-Old’s Journey from Stud to Survivor

Surviving the Crash: A 17-Year-Old’s Lifelong Journey from Stud to Survivor

Louise talks with Rick Futia and his nephew, Jag Jefferson, about the 1982 accident that altered the course of Rick's life forever. At seventeen, Rick was an athletic powerhouse whose identity was entirely wrapped up in his physical strength and studious caution. He recounts the eerie premonitions he felt on the day of his injury, from a lingering look at his mother to a strange reflection in a store window, before a stunt involving a tractor tire at the lake went wrong.

Rick opens up about the crushing depression that followed the loss of his physical abilities and the struggle to find worth when his body was no longer his calling card. He describes a pivotal moment in the hospital involving a roommate who could only communicate with her eyes, a realization that shifted his perspective on his own survival. Joined by Jag, the author of the new memoir Rickicello, they discuss how Rick refused to shrink away and instead reinvented himself into one of the Bay Area's most eligible bachelors, finding a new kind of strength and resilience.

#BeginAgain #HopeforEverything

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Resources

Rickicello: The Rockstar Life of a Paraplegic Paisan: https://www.amazon.com/Rickicello-Rockstar-Life-Paraplegic-Paisan-ebook/dp/B0G5Z4PZFZ

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A non-profit which is an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injury, originating the first SCI Navigator Program in the country for newly injured SCI Families by SCI Families as an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injured families in the first days, weeks and months of SCI crisis when life turns upside down and few medical teams in the US have SCI expertise or lived experience. They bring essential support, connections, life expertise and resources. BLINK of an Eye non profit deploys a rapid response HEAL Team for ICU bedside support to create an Extraordinary Experience despite the devastation for SCI families and a personal SCI Navigator for 24/7 support in the first 90 days and throughout the Miracle Year. BLINK of an Eye non profit also provides a Multidisciplinary Wrap Around Team and SCI Expert Medical Panel. Stay tuned for their launch of a National Digital Resource Library, the SCI PLAYBOOK, chocked full of essential SCI information and trauma informed responses for the first hours, days and months after injury. To find out more, get involved, or make a donation, visit www.BLINKofaneye.org.

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