Dan and Annabelle
On June 3rd, 2005 Dan was hit by a wave while vacationing in Maui and broke his neck. Dan suffered a C-5 incomplete spinal cord injury. He spent a month in ICU after the doctors fused C-3 through C-7, and a total of three months in the hospital. While in the hospital, he was repeatedly told he would never walk again, let alone move anything below his level of injury. Dan and his wife, Annabelle, refused to believe this. Together, determined to prove these statements wrong, they searched for alternative methods to treating spinal cord injuries.
One week after being discharged from the hospital Dan and Annabelle moved to Southern California so Dan could start an intense exercise–based recovery program. Dan began working out two hours a day five days a week while still wearing his neck brace. After the first month of intense exercising, Dan saw huge improvements. Within 3 months he was able to feed himself and dress himself again. By the sixth month mark, Dan took his first steps with a walker. Dan met Jerry and Bianca while in Southern California. They were part of Dan’s team of trainers in Southern California, and played a very important role in his recovery. When Dan returned to the bay area he was using a walker or crutches full time. In July of 2007, two years after his injury, Dan uses only crutches to wallk and continues to work toward his goal of walking without any aids.
Dan and Annabelle were born and raised in the Bay Area. They believe Dan’s injury happened for a reason. They know first-hand how expensive, and difficult it is to leave the support and comfort of home in order to relocate for this type of program. They also know how important exercise is to those who have suffered a spinal cord injury. Without an intense exercise program, Dan would never know the potential his body had for recovery. Dan has been given the gift of walking again, and he and Annabelle would like to give back to the community they grew up in. For these reasons they have decided to co-found SCI-FIT and provide the opportunity for others within the Bay Area region to reach their potential.
