Our Story

 

Khari and I met when we were 13 and 14 years old at a meditation group in Los Angeles. We were making vegetarian sandwiches to feed the homeless with a group of friends. He was kind, smart and loved my lame jokes. We instantly connected and wanted to get to know each other. When we met it felt like being reunited with a long lost soul mate. But we lived on opposite sides of town and couldn’t spend a lot of time together. Instead, we chatted for hours everyday and quickly became close friends. Our friendship seemed great, until I had a diving accident leaving me instantly paralyzed from the neck down.

 

 

As you can imagine, it was very difficult for Khari and I to communicate in the hospital. Despite the challenges I was facing, Khari never gave up on our friendship. He sat by my hospital bed and read to me. He sometimes didn’t have anything to say, and during these times, he meditated at my bedside. It is obvious as I type this story that I survived my spinal cord injury. What might not be so obvious is that I didn’t just survive; but I also never lost faith in my dreams. With the help of family and friends, I regained awareness of my lower body and started walking a year and a half after my accident. This isn’t meant to imply that I don’t face challenges now. In fact, I face many challenges everyday due to my being in a wheelchair, but I do not let that defeat me. Instead, with the great moral support of my family and friends, I continue my journey. Surely I persevere in my physical rehabilitation as my mother taught me, but what’s incredible is that my friendship with Khari didn’t just survive my accident; on the contrary, it’s growing. Khari not only became my boyfriend, but my best friend and supports me in every aspect of life.

 

Over time, Khari and I learned that our adversities and triumphs in facing the challenges of a spinal cord injury could inspire other people living through similar situations to continue their lives as normally as possible. We aspire to reassure people with disabilities that they’re not alone in facing challenges. Instead we hope to show them that having a disability is a new ability of living. Last year, we began volunteering at workshops to help students with disabilities and their families learn about resources available to help them succeed in high school and college. Through this experience, we learned that we wanted to continue helping others undergoing similar adversities, through sharing our story of love and friendship.

- Gaby