Mike Shaw a Miracle in the Making

Mike Shaw is a Skiing coach at Whistler British Columbia who had a serious injury the week before Christmas. Also, he is the son of my cousin Rob Shaw.  Mike broke his spinal cord while his student team was working out in Denver Colorado; he was showing them a technical maneuver when he went down.  He was transferred by helicopter to Denver’s St. Anthony Hospital. 

After having surgery he spent ten days in Denver then was transferred to Vancouver General Hospital   for a week before going to GF Strong Rehab Center in Vancouver, British Columbia.

While in Denver he was initially paralyzed, however, he was able to move is arms a little, and after three days was able to move his legs which was a miracle. The doctor told him the rehab would likely take at least nine months if not over a year. He was able to leave GF Strong on March 7, 2014 which was 79 days after the accident. He was able to walk out on his own. At GF Strong he had to learn how to do almost everything over again. He now is an outpatient at GF Strong so he isn’t totally ok but definitely on the way. Mike was a lot farther ahead of schedule, especially for someone who wasn't guaranteed that he would be able to walk again.

Mike now is living alone; he did have a lot of visitors at Denver, Vancouver Genera; Hospital, and GF Strong.  What amazes me is his attitude through the whole experience.  He would love to ski again, but knows that may not happen either.

To get his whole story, and how Mike is doing now there is a website on line where he goes on a podcast. I basically have given just a little look at what happen to Mike.  I saw Mike before as being a champion, however, the accident and recovery shows how much more of a champion he is. Whether you are a skier or not you can learn a lot from his experience. I recommend the podcast very much.

The website is www.lowpresspodcast.com  see episode 17 part 1 and 2. You will see a young man with a great attitude who has persevered under very tough circumstances. I am not sure whether I could or not, however, we don’t know how we would react especially when you have no choice but to deal with it.