Patient Profile: J.B. Seiner

J.B. Seiner had done these same tricks on his motorcycle dozens of times before.  This time was different.  This time he came down onto a sewer grade which flipped him and the bike in the air.  He came crashing down on the concrete crushing several vertebrae in his spine.  He remembers his shoulders and neck hurting, but it was the ER nurse who told him he was paralyzed.

It was hard for him adjusting to his new life in a power chair. He had lost his independence and he was uncertain what level of recovery he was going to be able to achieve.

After four and a half months of intense rehabilitation, J.B. was contacted by Alice Krauss.  She had just formed the Brooks Adaptive Sports & Recreation Program, to help those with physical disabilities adjust through participation in sports and recreational activities. She invited him to a wheelchair rugby practice.  He couldn’t imagine being able to play a sport.  Apprehensively, he went…and fell in love.

“Wheelchair rugby and the adaptive sports program are now a huge part of my life and who I am.  I’ve been an athlete my entire life and the program I am involved in now provides me with more opportunities than I could have imagined after being injured.  Not only am I able to stay physically active, but adaptive sports has provided me with a resource and support network that is priceless.

I have been able to accomplish many goals that I didn’t think were possible during those early stages of my injury such as, finishing school to earn my Bachelor’s Degree, driving independently again, working, playing sports, and traveling.  Adaptive sports and recreation through Brooks has been a huge factor in the development of my independence and overall quality of life.

J.B.’s new path also now includes being a peer mentor to newly injured patients. He’s also participating in an apprenticeship with the Brooks Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program where he can share his love of sports with others.