The internet really blows me away sometimes. I know I’m stating the obvious and sounding pretty cliche so let me say this instead: I can’t imagine what this injury would be like 10, 20 or 30 years ago, specifically in regards to the difference in social connectivity then vs. now.
Last week a friend posted my Al Jazeera video at Ekso Bionics on Upworthy.com, a site that I didn’t know much about previously. Within minutes, I had emails, blog comments, Facebook messages, and all kinds of communication from people all over the world who had seen the story and felt inspired enough to read my blog and to contact me personally. I was blown away. I have had a couple of big social media days since I started writing this blog but this broke all the records. The communication kept flooding in over the weekend and I’m still barely catching up to all of it.
As a result of just this recent wave of traffic, I’ve made new contacts, connected with people who have the same injury as me to swap stories, received extraordinarily generous offers of help and support from complete strangers, and read sincere, kind messages of love, positivity and encouragement from people I don’t know. I make it a frequent point on this blog to share my gratitude and always recognize those things I do have despite all of the adversity that life has thrown me with this injury, so I have to take a moment to express my thanks to everyone who has read my blog whether you’ve been following me from the beginning or just recently joining me on my path to recovery.
We live in a time where I’m fortunate enough to click a button and upload a video that instantly goes global and motivates people to send me their words of support. There are websites out there specifically to help people raise money or organize events to give themselves a better shot at improving their condition. By connecting with some of the readers and visitors of my blog, I’ve learned about cutting edge treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI), brand new devices and equipment, and read about prolific research that is paving the way for a better understanding of how the spinal cord heals. I can’t imagine how different it would be if I didn’t have access to such forms of communication and (I have to admit) I wonder if or how much my recovery would have suffered if I didn’t live in an age where so much information is so incredibly accessible.
Last year, when I was still in the hospital, I had my first conversation with Grant Korgan (a fellow survivor of SCI and an incredible and inspiring person) and the first thing he said to me as I wheezed and forced out a barely audible sentence was, “bro, there is SO much love out there, just waiting for you.” I’m feeling grateful to be able to realize this every day, and in novel and interesting ways. Thank you all for giving me so much continued inspiration and for keeping me on my path to recovery.
Arash Recovery 