Clay Egan isn’t a big fan of patience, holding still, doing things the way others would do them, or gravity.  He is a fan of his daughter, his grandson, Ted Nugent, hunting, racing, and anything extreme and potentially life-threatening. 

Thirteen years ago, Clay was a 22-year-old up for anything.  One night, while riding his cousin’s dirt bike, a horse on the loose ran in front of Clay’s bike, causing an accident that resulted in a broken neck for Clay.

Now, Clay is a 36-year old quad up for anything.  He says his accident is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.  And don’t tell him that he’s full of crap.

DB: How was the transition of acceptance to your disability?
CE: There was never really any transition for me.  I was kind of like a freak in the hospital.  I was so sick in the beginning that I never really cared if I ever walked again; I just wanted to feel better.  I just wanted to be able to drink something because I was fed through tubes for the first month.  It was hell.  Once I got those tubes out of me and started to feel better, I just took the bull by the horns and ran with it.  That’s how it was from the beginning.  So I never experienced any depression or weird feeling about being paralyzed.

DB: Talk about the time between when you had your accident and leaving the hospital.
CE: I was life-flighted from where I had my accident was up here in the mountains.  I ran into a horse.  They life-flighted me to the University of Utah Medical Center, and I spent about 12 weeks up there.  The first month that I was there, I had tubes up my nose, I was just really sick.  They had me packed in ice half the time because I had such high temperatures.  I just felt like crap for about that first month.  Once I started to heal, I pretty much worked out really hard while I was in there with my therapist—trying to get strong and trying to get to where I could be independent.  Every day I pushed things as hard as I could.  I was never a slacker when it came to that.  Some days I pushed too far, I made myself sick and I had to take a day off because I did so much, but that’s how I am and how I’ve always been.  So, it was a good experience while I was in there.  It taught me a lot about myself that I guess you wouldn’t know unless you went through something like that.

DB: Was there anyone who helped you through this time?
CE: I had a lot of support from friends and family.  They were up there the whole time and I had great therapists that were very encouraging.  Because of my attitude, it helped them.  It worked back and forth—you know when you have someone who’s negative and uncooperative and doesn’t want to work and do anything, that kind of affects your therapist and makes them not want to be around you or push you the way they could.  I had a lot of support from them too.  I was really fortunate that way.

DB: What do you love about rock crawling?
CE:  Growing up I was always into the extreme sports. I was into BMX, skateboarding, and going on the half-pipe.  As I got a little older, I got into motocross and started racing.  About the time that I had my accident, I switched over and I was racing quads.  So motor sports and extreme sports have always been in my blood and what I’ve done, and I just kind of fell into this sport by accident.

My life was going along great when I started competing, but I never thought I’d ever be competing in motor sports when it happened.  So for me to be back doing that, and for me to be able to be the only quadriplegic in the world to compete against all other able-bodied drivers on a professional level—that’s the biggest rush for me.  I’ve made a name for myself in this sport, I’ve been in two dozen magazines over the years, on different TV shows, had a boatload of media coverage because of it.  We finished seventh in the nation last year and it’s opened a whole new world of opportunities for me.

DB: When you were in your accident, were you competing?
CE: No.  When I had my accident, I was just cruising along, and some horses had escaped from a rancher’s stables, and I just ran into one.  It was just one of those freak things.  I never saw it coming.

DB: Have you faced any obstacles in achieving your goals?  You seem pretty much like a ‘nothing can stop me’ guy.
CE: The only obstacles that I face are not physical.  The sport is extremely expensive.  So we’re constantly battling trying to afford it, trying to get more sponsors, trying to keep our sponsors happy, just trying to build our business and keeping it going from month to month, year to year, and to stay competitive. 

DB: Do you feel that society has changed in its perception and outlook toward disabled people?
CE: I’ve been in my chair thirteen-plus years now.  As time goes on, people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities are out there getting more exposure and doing things.  I think with ADA and the codes changing to benefit people with disabilities so they can get in and out of buildings, things are a lot more accessible now.  I think it’s a lot better than it was thirteen years ago.

DB: What gives you the greatest satisfaction in your life?
CE:  Well, my friends and my family.  That’s most important to me over anything I’ve ever done.  My daughter, I’m a grandpa—my grandson, my siblings, and my friends.  I’ve been through a lot in my life, and not just since my accident.  I mean, my accident really has been the easy part of my life considering I grew up with a dad who was mentally disabled and has some major mental issues; a lot of bad stuff went on in my home when I was a kid.

When I speak to youth groups or businesses, I talk about how my life was so much worse when I was a kid compared to what it’s like being in a chair.  My chair has been the easy part.  I wouldn’t go back to the way things were at home with my dad when I was a kid for anything.  I’d have my accident 10 times over again before I’d go back and do that again.  So I think that has a lot to do with why my wheelchair has never been that big of a deal for me because I’ve experienced so much worse when I was young.

DB: What gives you the most frustration in your life?
CE: Not achieving my goals.  Not getting what I want right now.  I’m pretty impatient and I have pretty high expectations and I’m pretty anal about stuff.  When I’m trying to get something done or accomplish something, it pisses me off when I don’t get it done or things get in the way of succeeding or achieving the goals that I have.  I, myself, am probably my biggest frustration.  There’s nothing out there that really gets in my way other than myself.

DB: Who are your heroes?
CE: Well, my daughter is my number one hero.  Guys like Walker Evans, Stacy Peralta, Tony Hawke, Robbie Gordon, Ted Nugent, guys like that who I idolized as a kid.  Robby Gordon is a big time Baja 1000 racer.  Walker Evans and I have become really good friends since I’ve been competing.  Guys like Tony Hawke I idolized when I was a kid because I was so into skateboarding, but more so what he’d done, not just for being the greatest skateboarder that ever lived, but for the business that he built around his name and for what he’s taken skateboarding to as a business.

Stacy Peralta, the same thing.  He was a big skateboarder in the 70s and he started a skateboarding business and he turned his passion into a very successful career that you just don’t see in those kinds of sports very often.  Those are the guys I look up to.  Ted Nugent is one of my heroes because I’ve always been a huge rocker and a music fan and I’ve always really been into hunting and he does both.  He’s a famous rock star and probably the biggest hunter in the world.  That’s kind of what I’ve always been into and strived to be. 

DB: You obviously seem to be very active.  Do you think it’s important to stay active as a disabled person?
CE: Oh absolutely.  I mean, for one, it’s extremely important from an emotional and mental standpoint.  Sitting around and not doing anything allows too much negativity to creep into your mind.  Being idle is anyone’s worst enemy.  From a physical standpoint, it’s important to be out and be active for health reasons.  It’s important to me to be active because I set an example for other people with disabilities to not give up on life and to go out and find what their passion is.  To find and realize that there are so many great opportunities out there for everybody that there’s nothing that any of us can’t do. 

DB: How has your accident changed your perspective on life?
CE: Being that close to death has made me appreciate my life a lot more.  It’s made me – I want to say respect it, but with what I do, a lot of people look at me and say I don’t respect life because I’m always pushing things so far that I could die at any time.  I really feel like I’ve been blessed with having the accident that I’ve had and there’s a reason why I’m in my chair and maybe that reason is I’m here to set an example for everyone I come in contact with whether with disabilities or without, but I really feel deep down that that is my purpose in life.  I’m here doing what I’m doing for a reason.

DB: So this happened when you were 22, just getting started with your life. What would you say to somebody who had just gotten in an accident?  What advice would you give to them?
CE: Basically that life isn’t over.  I go to the University of Utah Medical Center where I rehabbed a couple times a month and try to meet new spinal cord injuries.  I always take them a copy of my book.  I take them my DVD.  I tell them: “this could either be the worst nightmare of your life and it’s going to be over, or it’s going to be the biggest blessing and the biggest adventure you’ve ever had,” and that it can be the most amazing thing.  I truly believe that.  I met a guy today, you could just see, he was so angry and so unhappy and negative, and it just really doesn’t need to be that way.

We all handle things differently.  Life’s curves affect us all differently.  But there are so many good things that can come out of this kind of situation if people will allow it and look for the good in it.  I try to teach them a little bit about that and try to show them what I’ve done and what I’ve accomplished and the happiness that I have in my life.  I’m not just full of crap telling them that life is great when I don’t believe that it is.  I believe deep down in my soul that this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and that I really wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Most people look at me like I’m nuts, but unless you’ve gone through it, been through what I’ve been through, seen what I’ve seen, you don’t know.

DB: Another part to that question: after your accident, what do you wish someone would have said to you?
CE: Don’t get married.  Laughs. I couldn’t resist.  I got married right after I had my accident and it wasn’t the best idea for me.  I probably should’ve waited and not rushed into things and that was a mistake on my part. 

As far as life in general, there’s not anything anybody could’ve said.  I’ve always written my own story, done my own thing.  I’ve made mistakes and not learned the hard way, but I do what I do and go where I want to go. 

DB: Do you have anything else you want to add?
CE:  I’ve got a lot of really cool stuff in the works right now.  I’ve got some folks out here that are working on a script about making my life’s story into a feature film.  I speak and I just love doing that and going and talking to kids.  That’s really the icing on the cake of the whole thing.