On June 23, 2003, I was
nineteen years old. While riding my new street bike in a reckless fashion, I
was in an accident that changed my whole life in a couple of seconds. I
broke my T7 vertebrae and many other bones, as well as collapsing both
lungs. After such a catastrophic accident, I was lucky to still be alive. At
the time I was not feeling lucky at all. I was in for months of therapy to
heal my wounds and learn how to handle day to day functions as a paraplegic.
Laying in bed it was obvious to me this would change the way
I looked at life. I went through the natural psychological processes of
understanding and coping with what had just happened to me, or better yet
what I had just done to myself. One thing became certain, that I would not
give up and therefore it was up to me to make this a change for the better.
Change did not happen over
night, but by staying "strong" and having faith in myself I started to
abandon my real disabilities and realize my
countless abilities. I began to pursue one of my favorite things in
life OUTDOOR activities, with a deeper passion and understanding than
before.
More important, on a large
scale I have discovered that other people facing similar situations were
overwhelmed and having difficulty participating in activities crucial to
their quality of life. Because of the positive impact outdoor activities has
had on my quality of life, and the overwhelming interest I received from
other people facing similar situations, it was obvious that something to
make these opportunities available to others needed to be done. In 2005, I
established Global Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. to pursue my dream of
helping other wheelchair bound people enjoy outdoor activities.
Dustin Berg
Founder/Executive Director
My story:
