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| Bob walked the entire LA Marathon on his hands. |
In Febuary 27th, 1979, I faced a near death experience. My life as I knew it was over—I thought. The light at the end of the tunnel was there. I saw it. My athletic career, college scholarships and Olympic dreams dashed.
The near detachment and amputation of my left arm, left me wondering why I was alive and what I was meant to do? It was unclear to me at the time. The sadness and detachment I felt was overwhelming. All I could hear were the recurring words from the Medical team stating “though we reattached the arm, we are not sure if it will ever work again.”
I believed in my heart that the authorities that loosely gave me a doomed diagnosis might not know everything. All I knew was that my arm was still attached; I was going to try and make it work! It seems that we all have a decision to make on the inside, deep in our spirit, when hard times hit—“move forward or quit, concede or fight, find an alternate path or don’t do anything at all.” Medicine, though neccessary, seems to underestimate the unknown depth of the human spirit.
What at first glance, was a horrible nightmare experience and a seven year battle to get my arm and hand to operate again, turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
How you may ask? It often takes the catastrophic events to make us dig deep. Search our souls for the fighting truth.
I found other fighters. Bob Wieland for example had found his truth. Here was a Vietnam Vet who had lost both legs to a land mine, yet took a moment out of his workout to encourage me and said “don’t rob yourself by feeling sorry for yourself—turn it around and find a way to help others”. Here was a man with no legs, challenging me with a partially functioning limb, to not feel sorry for myself. Wow! It struck me deeply and his encouragement drove me to turn my pain inside out!
Drove me to think beyond the immediate discomfort and pain and see beyond it!
Also, Dr. Harry Sneider, Olympic Coach and mentor, admonished me to “bust loose”. Don’t let what is invisible and restrictive, stop me from pressing forward and keep trying to overcome. “One day that barrier holding us back might be removed and you’ll never know unless you keep trying!”
Western medicine has progressed so much in 30 years. Now they use “biofeedback flooding” as a standard in rehabilitation protocols. I Thank God everyday that I did not listen to the “doomed” diagnosis the MD’s so lightly gave me.
It makes me rethink everything that we believe so powerfully today. What will the next 30 years hold as far as scientific breakthroughs, morphing truths about the human body, healing, rehabilitation and medicine?
I turned the lessons I learned from my debilitating loss, into a system that now provides encouragement and results for thousands. This scientific discovery of “biofeedback flooding” is built into the visionary technology called the AB-Inforcer® Core Biofeedback Trainer. It was designed to help flood our “core training” muscles with a message to wake up. Just as my arm couldn’t feel what was expected of it to perform at an elite level again, I used musical instruments (guitar and piano) to retrain it to move with dexterity and function. In the same way, the AB-Inforcer® educates the postural awareness and spine stabilizing muscles to turn on and function at a higher level.
What we learn from our painful experiences can help others. Never lose hope, and always keep fighting to find a way to make sense of the horrible things that inevitably happen! Turn pain inside out, and see it as a catalyst for invention. Maybe some of our greatest inventions are yet hiding inside our human spirit, only to be made manifest by the resistance of pain”.