Archive for Beyond Wheels
MetroHealth Cleveland: Quadriplegic Cross-Country Speaking Tour
Posted by: | CommentsWhat a privilege it was once again to present to such an inspiring group. We visited MetroHealth Rehabilitation Hospitalin Cleveland. 8/17/15. One of the things that really motivates me to give these presentations is when someone reacts like one of the audience members last night. He said “I received a spinal cord injury about 30 days ago. This is all new and scary to me. Your presentation helped to inspire me to continue working hard for 4 hours a day to try to improve my strength and independence. Thank you for coming out and speaking to our group.” Wow! What an impact that have for me every time I hear it.
Cleveland MetroHealth Hospital checking out the quadriplegic cross-country speaking tour.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy Hospital Presentation
Posted by: | CommentsUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy Hospital PresentationQuadriplegic Cross-Country Speaking Tourhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU3QJtw623YOn August 6, 2015 I had the pleasure to present to an inspirational group at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy Hospital. The Quadriplegic Cross Country Speaking Tour, began on July 23rd and there were several presentations within my home state of New Jersey. Following two great presentations, one at Kessler Rehabilitation Hospital and the other for the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce foundation, Charles Fleisher and the cross-country speaking tour got underway. On August 6, we arrived at the hospital towing our 20-foot handicap-accessible trailer. I was blessed to be able to tow my 2013 GMC Sierra pickup truck. It was converted for handicap use by two of my major sponsors. Ryno Mobility in Pinellas Park Florida and Drive Master Corporation in Fairfield New Jersey.
University of Pittsburgh medical Center audience by the cross-country speaking tour trailer
quadriplegic cross-country speaking tour inside University of Pittsburgh Medical Ctr., Mercy Hospital
Quadriplegic Cross-Country Hospital Speaking Tour
Posted by: | CommentsHello,We need your help, support excitement and interest.It’s time for me to pay it forward in return for all the help I received after a spinal cord injury at age 18. There are thousands of people in the US and abroad with injuries who will benefit from what I’ve learned over the last 25 years thriving with a spinal cord injury. It’s time for me to share this experience and guide as many of them as possible through this challenging time in their lives.”
This Summer, on behalf of a Beyond Wheels, a nonprofit to promote sports, recreation and employment for people with disabilities, we’ll be visiting a minimum of nine SCI rehab hospitals and events.I’m driving a truck adapted by Ryno Mobility and DriveMaster Corp. and pulling a 20 foot trailer converted for wheelchair access travel.Please help by making a contribution and by sharing our adventure on your social media. We’ve already started a crowdsourcing fundraising campaign on IndieGogo which began August 3. We’ve surpassed 25% of our $5000 goal within in the 1st week but we need your participation to keep the momentum going.Please share this adventure through any and all of your social media connections. Including email, Facebook, twitter, YouTube and Instagraham. All of the platforms you love and enjoy. The IndieGogo site will allow you to get involved, contribute and share.
Kessler Hospital West Orange
Imagine how your support will help someone through the trials and tribulations of a devastating injury. Your contribution will allow people with injuries to see how full their lives can be living with a spinal cord injury. It will show them how they might still drive a 4 x 4 truck, skydive, ski or go white water rafting. It will show them how they might travel the world. It will provide them with a positive view to the future! You can help us do these things.For those of you who are already living a full and successful life after an injury, remember the messages, mentors and support that helped you get there.We can easily be found, followed and shared in the following places:Click Here to Contribute Via Our Fundraising Websitehttp://igg.me/at/quadtour/x/11425549Website http://www.beyondwheels.org/Twitter https://twitter.com/beyondwheelsFacebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-Wheels/644301052272728YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcXWSVJ_sX2arDgLIArGaQwPhone 732-895-2610Click Here to Contribute Via Our Fundraising Websitehttp://igg.me/at/quadtour/x/11425549Where it all began:
It’s early on a bright warm summer morning just outside of Denver. I’m a young man of 19. It’s June of 1989, I’m wide-eyed and smiling from ear to ear in front of an itinerary of events. The activities include water skiing, hot air ballooning, sailing, camping, canoeing, and white water rafting. I begin to feel as if I have entered an extreme sports summer camp. I add my name to all these events and the fun begins. But I am not at an extreme summer camp. Instead, I have recently been admitted to Craig Hospital, a rehab facility for individuals with spinal cord injuries and head trauma.
Only months before. It’s a dark night in October . The year is 1988. There are four young men. They’re 18. And there knocking back a few Budweiser’s. At midnight, one of boys has what he thinks is a brilliant idea. He says, let’s go visit Kevin at Stockton college. Freshman in search of a party. Yeah right! A brilliant idea. The passenger steps inside his dream car. It’s A white Nissan 300ZX Turbo. The driver jams his foot on the floor and the passenger is pinned back into his seat. It’s like a roller coaster. They are rocketing down the Highway at 120 miles an hour.Because they’re teenagers, they’re more thrilled than they are scared. 18-year-old geniuses. The driver slows at a toll. Once through, the passenger is once again thrown back into the seat. The passenger sits up, looks over his shoulder, and what do you think he sees? That’s right. Red white and blue police lights. What does the driver do? Slowdown? Pullover? No. That would make too much sense. He speeds up in an attempt to escape. He grabs the steering wheel and jerks it to exit the Highway. But they don’t. They don’t! The Turbo jumps a curb. It hit’s a small tree. The tree collapses. The Turbo flips over and since the passenger Charles is not wearing a seatbelt, He’s ejected from the vehicle, thrown wildly through the air 100 feet. His neck breaks! He’s hit with a permit spinal cord injury. Yes! I was the passenger on that tragic night.The rehab process, from the time of my accident, and through long years is long hard work, but gradually I come by answers. By the time I finish SCI rehab, I have a new awareness and new tools to deal with my life altering injury. Most importantly I now no that the glass is still more than half full and that despite the new physical considerations, there are still incredible opportunities available to to myself and people with similar injuries. The new restrictions are significant, but with the help of giant hearted individuals and incredible programs, there is enough to keep most people with injuries busy and fulfilled for many lifetimes. This Indiegogo campaign is inspired by what myself and others has learned. It’s inspired by the desire to pass it on and help others.The accident creates all kinds of challenges. How will I take care of myself? How will I get a job? How will I even motivate myself to get out of bed every day? But in retrospect there are incredible opportunities that came out of that terrible night. Thousands of people a year face similar “new realities.” This tour, this Indiegogo campaign, exists to help those individuals prosper under their difficult circumstances as soon as possible.The money raised will go to cover expenses for the trip. Transportation, support, promotion, and daily expenses. The money raised in the campaign will also cover inspirational materials and tools for audience members. These materials and tools will help individuals improve their learning curve while dealing with challenges related to their injuries.Please contact us and follow us:Click Here to Contribute Via Our Fundraising Websitehttp://igg.me/at/quadtour/x/11425549Website http://www.beyondwheels.org/Twitter https://twitter.com/beyondwheelsFacebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-Wheels/644301052272728YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcXWSVJ_sX2arDgLIArGaQwPhone 732-895-2610
Inspirational Talk at Matawan Regional High School
Posted by: | Comments>May 5th and May 6th it was my pleasure to speak with about 400 high school students. It never ceases to amaze me how interested and attentive they are. The teachers often warned me how hard it is to keep their attention, but this is never been the case for me.I believe they understand how relevant injury prevention is to them. I know a lot of them having given it a lot of thought, but when they have someone with a serious spinal cord injury sitting in front of them, it holds their attention.
Charles Fleisher & Eric Legrand 2 Inspirational Speakers
Posted by: | CommentsIt was an inspirational night. Thousands turned out for the event. Because of the great community that got together, it was my pleasure to meet former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand at a fundraiser for Mike Nichols last week. It was a packed great event at a hockey rink in Middletown New Jersey. It just goes to show what can happen when people get together to support one another.
Charles Fleisher & Eric Legrand Inspirational Speakers
TV Interview With Charles Fleisher and Joe Entwistle
Posted by: | CommentsKessler Foundation Employment Conference TV Interview: Charles Fleisher The Opportunities GuyClick Here for News InterviewThe interview includes insights from Joe Entwistle who flew in from the Chicago area.Opportunities often come from unlikely places. On October 2, 2014, keynote speaker, author, and disability unemployment expert, Charles Fleisher keynoted the Kessler Foundation unemployment conference at the Kessler foundation. In his remarks he shared examples of how multi billion dollars companies turn the challenges of mobility into corporate giants. Including companies such as Brawnability a multimillion dollar automobile mobility company and the creators of the quickie wheelchair.He also shared personal experiences about how his disability has led to success as an author and keynote speaker. Representatives from organizations such as Kessler Hospital, Rutgers University, and the Reeves Foundation discussed important topics on both employment issues for the disabled and perspective treatment for spinal cord injury.Dr. Wise Young, and Dr. Steven Kirschbloom spoke about some of the leading studies going on in the United States and abroad. Both Kessler and Rutgers are on the leading edge of research in spinal cord injury research.Click here to gain more information about individuals who took difficult situations and turn them into business and personal successes.
Possible New Opportunities, cure & hope for Spinal Cord Injured Individuals
Posted by: | CommentsUSA Today reported recently that studies show that four spinal cord injured individuals have been able to voluntarily move previously paralyzed limbs. The study was published in the journal Brain.I had a complete spinal cord injury 26 years ago and had pretty much decided that a cure for paralysis would not come in my lifetime. I still don’t know whether it will but this was an interesting study and results.When a study funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, one of the most reliable advocates for spinal cord injury in the world, is discussed in USA Today, it gives even me hope for treatment. I’m not a skeptic, but after over a quarter of a century with a spinal cord injury it takes a lot to get me excited about real treatments. I decided early after my injury that even though I never wanted or asked for this traumatizing event in my life, I was going to focus on what I could still do instead of what was no longer available to me.Yes I was devastated at first! Yes there was a long road through rehab! And yes I’m still a quadriplegic with no use of my hands, limited use of my arms and no movement or feeling from my upper chest down, but I have had the opportunity to travel across the United States, to Mexico, Europe and Canada. And it is given me the opportunity to inspire thousands and prevent future injuries by speaking directly to audiences.Life has been good to me even though I haven’t had much hope to ever walk again, but now with these findings I’m excited and looking forward to what happens next. This is thrilling news and I just hope for the 1.3 million people in the world who are affected by spinal cord injury, progress continues to be made toward getting us on our feet again.
What Can Be Done about Poor Job Growth for People with Disabilities
Posted by: | CommentsWhat Can Be Done about Poor Job Growth for People with Disabilities?The US unemployment rate is still much higher than most people are comfortable with but the unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is even worse. In the following article from Kessler Rehabilitation Foundation the disappointing statistics are discussed. Kessler Article Click Here.There are however major initiatives taking place to help prepare individuals with disabilities for the workplace. The Kessler Foundation has several grants and programs working to help employ and train individuals with disabilities.The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation is going to be running a conference July, 7-10 2014 at the Horizon High school in Livingston New Jersey to help prepare high school students with disabilities for careers. The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is also having a conference September 23, 2014 to help educate employers about new federal regulations for federal contractors hiring individuals with disabilities. Including a recommendation for contractors to have 7% disabled employees.There are also great state agencies throughout the country who are there to help. New Jersey VRS was there to help me from the beginning after my injury. They aided me with my college tuition, purchasing computer and voice recognition software, as well as assisting in modifying a handicap accessible vehicle. I could’ve done it without them. You can contact Vocational Rehab Billets Eight Services them by clicking here.Of course there’s always the path of the entrepreneur. Many great companies in the United States were started by people with disabilities trying to solve their own problems. Marilyn Hamilton started Motions Designs, the manufacturer of the quickie wheelchair line, in 1979 and later sold it for millions. Ralph Braun built a mobility manufacturing company with over $200 million in current annual sales. These are only a few. To learn more about these entrepreneurs click here.It’s difficult to find a job able-bodied or with a disability, but there are options out there. I encourage anyone struggling in these areas to contact some of these agencies or use Google as a resource for working from home or learning to do Internet marketing. It’s not going to be easy but they’re often more options out there then we first see.
Inspirational Handicap Truck Learning Curve
Posted by: | CommentsInspirational Handicap Truck Learning CurveI’ve had the opportunity to drive adapted vehicles for a long time. Less than two years after breaking my neck and becoming a quadriplegic, I was once again driving. With the constantly evolving technology many people including yourself may still have transportation independence. But of course, there is a learning curve.Each handicap adapted vehicle is unique and takes varying degrees of getting used to. My latest truck is no different. I added new technology and was able to eliminate things I was depended on in the past.The old lift system in my last vehicle was made by one of the founding disabled mobility transportation companies in the world. My Braun lift went under my truck on the driver side. Ralph Braun created his company in the 60s and is still going strong today.
I missed the lounge chairby about 500 feet 🙂
Tips for Wheelchair Automobile Travel: Charles Fleisher driving to Florida
Posted by: | CommentsTips for Wheelchair Automobile Travel: Charles Fleisher driving to Florida #1I’m certainly a blessed and fortunate individual considering the challenges of being quadriplegic and and traveling with a spinal cord injury. After months of waiting to have my new vehicle modified, the final touches were finished.I had planned on driving to Florida , but because of inevitable delays in the truck modification it didn’t look like I was going to be able to stay on my timeline.It’s been a brutal winter on the East Coast with storm after storm and near record snow and this trip south was highly anticipated. Of course there are plenty of challenges for a quadriplegic when traveling. For instance, my new vehicle blew a fuse before. Skillfully my assistant and friend Elvie was able to figure out how to diagnose and replace the blown fuse.She has had plenty of experience! My last modified vehicle was giving me challenges constantly, but with her developed expertise in repairing my lift, we managed well enough and after a four hour delay, we left Jersey with temperatures in the mid-20s.
We arrived in Florida just fine. We’re looking forward to accomplishing a lot while we’re here. If you are in the Orlando area around this time mid-to-late March 2014 and would like me to come by and speak please don’t hesitate to contact me.5 Things You Must Know When Traveling in a Wheelchair by Car:1. If you haven’t done it before please do a short trip first!A few hours drive at the most.Do your research! Ask around and find out from others and the Internet as much as you can about your destination. .2 Thoroughly research your hotel. Check for wheelchair accessibility. Roll in showers.3. Bring assistance with you for your daily care or provide to have a nursing agency or other assistance meet you at your destination.4. If you use a leg bag to drain your urine, consider connecting to a larger bag so you don’t have to continue stopping to empty.5. Bring your basic required equipment with you or arrange for a medical supply company to deliver your supplies and equipment to your destination.Click Here To learn more about the vehicle which allows me to travel and the quadriplegic who invented it.Click Here to learn about three businesses that have combined annual incomes of over $200 million that were started by individuals with disabilities to provide mobility solutions for themselves and now assist countless individuals with vehicle mobility solutions.