Reflection on Spinal Cord Injuries

In order to learn more about people with spinal cord injuries, I decided to read a blog post by Francesco Clark, who acquired a spinal cord injury at the age of 24. His blog post was titled "A Meaningful Life". In his post, he describes how he got the injury and his emotions during the injury and following the injury. His words give an insight to his mindset and how he views life after the injury. 

I chose this resource because of how he obtained the spinal cord injury. He obtained his injury in a pool diving accident. It is crazy to imagine how drastically your life can change in one second. He probably never imagined getting an injury so severe from something as simple as diving. I go swimming all of the time and have dove off of many surfaces. In his post, he talks about how he remembers sinking to the bottom of the water not being able to move. This would be terrifying knowing that your body can not do what you need it to do to survive. This resource opened my eyes and has definitely made me more cautious when it comes to diving into a body of water. 

I learned a lot from reading this resource. Francesco talks about how when looking back on his injury, he can see how much he has grown and how his life has become so much more meaningful to him. The time following the injury he explains how he felt angry and had no energy to want to continue. He learned eventually to use those feelings of anger to push himself and motivate himself to continue to grow. In our class, we have talked about how motivation is such a huge aspect of the recovery process. If a client is not motivated, they will struggle in their recovery and may even be limited in what they can do. It is our job, as occupational therapist to address the feelings of our clients and help them find a way to cope and benefit from their feelings. The motivation that Francesco had helped him to be able to grow. 

In his blog post, Francesco also talks about how although he focuses primarily on his goals, he also has learned to enjoy the simple things in life. He has learned that doing nothing sometimes helps balance his goals. He also talks about how his work gives him a purpose. He explains how it helps structure his days and helps him feel meaningful. As an occupational therapist, this is one of our main goals. We want our clients to be able to engage in their desired occupations. Francesco explains how engaging in work helps him to not feel lost and listless. I think this source helps highlight the importance of engaging in occupations even if it is challenging. 

I definitely recommend this resource for others to read. I feel that this resource allows for the reader to better understand the feelings of a client after a substantial injury. It also explains how these feelings that clients are having can be used to help motivate them. This resource is also a perfect example of how occupations are so meaningful to one's self. I really enjoyed reading this resource and I found it inspiring how Francesco's life has become more meaningful after his injury. 

Here's the link if you want to check it out! 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-meaningful-life_b_10281396

Clark, F. (2017, June 4). A meaningful life. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-meaningful-life_b_10281396