I hated running throughout my whole life. I dreaded “superlaps” in gym class, as well as “gassers” in football practice, but I struggled through it in high school and sucked it up. Running was punishment. It couldn’t be over soon enough. I felt this way for 35 years.
December 23, 2011, was an absolutely beautiful day, unseasonably warm and inviting. My wife and I went to a local park because she wanted to go for a jog. She had been jogging off and on and was pleased with the results. I decided to tag along. I experienced a wake-up call. I was so out of shape, pushing an unhealthy 275 pounds and a size 44” waist. My ass couldn’t run a quarter mile without feeling like I was going to die, literally.
That day changed me. I began to count my calories, jog/walk and started living a much healthier lifestyle. I continued to see progress and liked the way I felt. In late spring 2012, I won the “Biggest Loser” competition at work. I lost 50 pounds through running and eating cleaner foods. I was the healthiest I had ever been in my life.
Everything was going great for me. I looked good and felt good; I was a healthy 35 year old. And then my life changed forever.
July 4, 2012, a firework struck me in my right eye. My life came to a screeching halt. Never had I experienced such pain and such fear. The initial diagnosis a ruptured globe and that I was going to lose my eye. That is when it hit me… thoughts of my kids, wife, my job and my health started racing through my mind. I was so scared!
But then, a glimmer of hope. The specialists said that I had a long road to recovery. I had experienced severe trauma, my eye full of blood; my iris torn apart; my lens hanging from a few zonules and quickly clouding. But I would not lose my eye; my globe was intact. The specialist called me her miracle patient.
I believe that the healthy changes I made before my injury saved my eye. I truly believe that through running and healthy eating, my body was able to provide resistance to the projectile and ultimately allowed me to keep my eye.
Following the accident, I was sidelined from running for six weeks, with three of those week restricted to lying continuously on my back. I was determined to get back on my feet as soon as my doctor cleared me. I started running again in September of 2012 and ran my first 5k in May 2013. August 2013 was my first 10k at the Lehigh Valley Zoo.
On November 3, 2013, I completed my first half marathon. I nearly cried as I crossed the finish line, seeing my wife and two beautiful kids standing there waiting for me. So as I sit here today, nearly 80 pounds lighter, I can honestly say that nothing is impossible! “I can’t” are two words that don’t exist in my vocabulary anymore.