It was truly an honor to have Fletcher come and speak to our class last week. He told us all about being a star football player in high school, and even locking down a college football scholarship at Lambuth. His life was changed in an instant when a distracted driver was texting on her phone and crossed over into Fletcher's lane. When he swerved to miss her, his car flipped and ended up in a ravine. I couldn't imagine what was going through his head at that point in time. I would be terrified, especially if I couldn't feel the lower half of my body. He told us he had a C5-C6 spinal cord injury.
Years after his accident, and after lots of physical and occupational therapy, Fletcher is thriving. He has his own apartment, a career at the IT department at AutoZone, and a really fancy adapted truck. He even let us go check it out in the parking garage. I have never experienced a spinal cord injury, but now I can sympathize a little bit more now that I have met someone who has had one. I can't begin to imagine the frustration and negativity he faced, even from his own doctors. If someone told me I couldn't do something, I don't know if I would argue with them, especially an experienced doctor. But Fletcher never gave up. He persevered through all the trials he faced, and now he is able to live independently.
The one thing that stuck out to me that Fletcher said was, "The sky is NOT the limit. How can the sky be the limit when there are footprints on the moon?" Now when I think about this phrase, I don't think how I am limited; I think about how I can push the envelope, go the extra mile, and prove people wrong by being successful.
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