Todd is an athlete, pure and simple. He has enjoyed many sports throughout his life, and that drive continues today, though now it is all adaptive. His athleticism and his training as a chiropractor have been true assets as he now navigates life in a wheelchair.
Todd was just enjoying a cup of coffee one Saturday morning when he started to feel a burning sensation in his abdomen. He lost the use of his legs and managed to get to his phone and call for help. He suffered an aneurysm in his aorta, which cut off the blood supply to his spinal cord, specifically affecting the area around the T-12 vertebrae—called a spinal cord infarction, which caused him to lose motor skills and control of his legs.
Todd lost his chiropractic practice and basically started over with life, starting with the day-to-day. His car was fitted with hand controls making it accessible. He moved from a two-story house to a one-story, focusing all his energy on remodeling most of it himself to make it more accessible, widening doors, etc. He applied for a grant and HUD loan to remodel his bathroom and kitchen and then started to look for his next outlet, sports. As he so enjoyed sports before, it was time to try adaptive sports.
It is nothing for Todd to now hand-cycle 17 miles a day, swim, and play tennis. He also loves to kayak, as he says once, in a kayak, he’s just like everyone else. Now spending more time in Florida around other divers, he would like to give it a try, however, it’s not all about scuba diving for him, he also wants to meet more people who navigate this world as he does, and network with them for more diving adventures in the future.
Todd says a sense of humor has kept his mental health on track through it all; laugh until it hurts, and when it hurts, laugh, there is much more life to live. Todd learned to dive along with his buddy Justen and Instructor Hellen at our Dive Chapter Jupiter Dive Center and SDI training.