Jeremy McGhee, 31, is a compassionate, joking, encouraging, get off-your-ass-and-do-something kind of guy. The fact that a motorcycle accident six years ago left him a paraplegic doesn’t seem to matter.
Before his accident, he surfed, biked, skied, had a job, and a loyal circle of friends. After his accident, he was back on the ski mountain, doing what he loves (going fast and hard) with his friends. He is about to start his dream job as the West-coast rep for Eider, a high-end ski company out of France. He’s competing in the X-games in January. Jeremy didn’t waste much time with a gradual transition, he got out and grabbed life and chose to be an inspiration.
The Accident
While running errands with a friend, Jeremy was riding his motorcycle alongside his friend’s car. When they took a sharp turn in front of him, he slammed into the side of the car. The accident was horrible, but his timing and location couldn’t have been better. A group of paramedics eating tacos across the street saw the whole thing happen. They were on him in seconds and he was in surgery in 10 minutes.
The Acceptance of Paralysis
Jeremy didn’t let his paralysis stop him from doing anything. The day he left the hospital, he purchased a set of hand controls for his truck from a homeless man in a wheelchair. After installing them in his truck, he drove himself up to the mountain to go skiing, broken ribs and all. “It’s a process for everyone. In the beginning, anyone who has just become paralyzed just wants to be normal.” To Jeremy, being on the mountain skiing is normal.
The Choice
“We face a choice, you and I, everyone else, whether we’re disabled or drug addicts or have emotional problems—we face the same question every morning: do we choose to embrace life or not?” Jeremy faced that question every morning in the hospital. “My choice is to either be a bummer or an inspiration. It’s one or the other.”
The Inspiration
Jeremy started Fight to Walk one year after his injury. When he was injured, he was lost. “It was chaotic.” No one around him could help with relearning the day-to-day of his life, how to get government aid, wheelchair measurements, etc. “If someone who had been through it before had been there, it would’ve been easier.” Jeremy didn’t find much help among the hospital employees either, because they hadn’t had a lot of experience with spinal cord injuries, “so I decided to step in and become a resource for people who are just learning about their injury.”
Fight to Walk raises money, answers questions, and provides emotional support for those with recent disabilities via a mentorship program, hooking people up with others who have had a spinal cord injury to answer questions or simply be available to them. Also, due to Jeremy’s love of the outdoors and recreation, Fight to Walk also helps people who have been injured get back into sports and doing what they loved to do before their accident. Despite a full-time job in sales, and his own recreational pursuits, Jeremy spends as much time as possible involved with Fight to Walk activities.
The Adrenaline Junkie
Unchanged by his accident, Jeremy’s love for skiing comes from an adrenaline-fueled desire to “do it fast and do it big.” He’s passionate about the outdoors and being with his friends, often known to encourage each other with a “that was a sick jump, right on bro!” There’s a feeling of freedom when he skis that he can’t find elsewhere, notes Jeremy. Because of his injury, “sometimes I have an issue of feeling claustrophobic; not being able to get up and move, get up and run. When I’m out there, I’m skiing fast, going big with my friends – and that bad feeling just pretty much goes away.”
No surprise, Jeremy believes it’s important to stay active, disabled or not. “God’s given you a body to use, use it. People who aren’t active are just lazy. The biggest obstacle we face is ourselves, our own minds, and our own inclination to be lazy.”
The Heroes
When asked to name his heroes, Jeremy doesn’t hesitate for a moment: his younger brother Bryan. “He survived a catastrophic accident while in high school that left him in a coma for a month and a half. He also survived seven years of crystal meth addiction and is now doing really well.” Ever the competitive athlete, Jeremy also cited San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who is “pretty much God.”
Other heroes? “Anyone who has it worse than me. Whenever I think of my friends who are quadriplegics and what their challenges are every day, I feel lucky. Their strength is tremendous, especially strength of mind. I really admire their ability to live strong lives.”
The Advice
Jeremy’s advice to others going through such a life-altering accident is to “be normal” in whatever way that is meaningful to them. “The wish of most people going through this is to be normal. Why not try? When you’re ready, get out and do what you love. The biggest part of recovery is the mental state - keeping positive. People need to be out doing things they loved to do before their injury in order to maintain a positive state. Choose life.”
