Transverse Myelitis Quotes

“I often wished that more people understood the invisible side of things. Even the people who seemed to understand, didn't really.”
― Jennifer Starzec, Determination

“People who don't see you every day have a hard time understanding how on some days--good days--you can run three miles, but can barely walk across the parking lot on other days,' [my mom] said quietly.”
― Jennifer Starzec, Determination

“I had learned quickly that life doesn't always go the way I want it to, and that's okay. I still plod on.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, Determination

“The strong, ferocious wind just made the chill worse, and as it blew around me, electric bursts of pain shot through my body.”
― Jennifer Starzec, Determination

“I could feel the bite of the autumn air, warning us all of the harsh winter that was on its way.”
― Jennifer Starzec, Determination

“The weekend was a much-needed breath of fresh air; Monday always seemed to not only take that breath right back, but add a few extra pounds to my shoulders as well.”
― Jennifer Starzec, Determination

“The video was still playing, although I didn't know why. It seemed as if the able-bodied dancers were mocking me.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, Determination

“I was really happy because the doctor had said I would be better by then, and I was ready for this terrible nightmare to be over.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“Before I knew it, I was racing across the highway. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to think.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“As I sat up I turned my head to the side, but immediately straightened it again when I felt a sharp pain shoot through my neck.”
― Jennifer Starzec, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“Dancing with a spinal cord injury is a challenge like no other, but I aspired to prove to myself that I could still be phenomenal dancer even with an SCI”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“But I had already fallen. Fallen into this deep, dark hole. I was trapped. Trapped in this nightmare.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“It seemed like an ordinary day, but little did I know that this wasn’t going to be a normal ballet class.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“Knowing that only minutes earlier I had walked to the car, my mom helped me out and stood me up in the parking lot. My legs collapsed. I could still move them, but I couldn’t walk.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“When the doctors came in a little while later saying they thought they knew my diagnosis, I was afraid to know.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“All of a sudden, my right hand was dead, unplugged, and my left was definitely not working right.”
― Jennifer Starzec, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“A blur. That’s what it felt like to me”
― Jennifer Starzec, 5k, Ballet, and a Spinal Cord Injury

“The thought of being able to [move my arms] made me want to give up my legs [instead] since I was accustomed to using them. But, I figured that after a few hours of sitting in a wheelchair...I would switch back...in a flash.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, Determination