LIVE E

ACH DAY

LIKE IT

S

YOUR L

AST

BY: T O

M N

I CKO

L AS

Epigraph

“When you're playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you'll fight for the winners circle.If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a fresh pack,one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor.(Great Quotes).”-Pat Riley

(former basketball great)

OVERVIEW

• How I dealt with the loss of mobility.

• The great feeling of being on top of the world to the moment of not knowing what the future holds.

• The events that lead to my position shift has shown people that there is hope in life; no matter what is thrown in front you.

• How my life was changed since the position shift.

THE S

HIFT O

F MY

EVENT.

THE T

RIALS

AND

TRIB

ULATI

ONS ONE

FACES!

THE BEGINNING AND THE START OF SHIFT• Before my shift I thought I was invincible. I could throw the football

around, eat tacos, drive and lift weights.

• I had great mobility. I could set myself up in a four point stance and could shoot for a double take down on the wrestling mat.

• I could even chop some celery with one hand and hold the end of the celery with the other.

• The world was my proving ground.Then it all changed!

The Shift starts on a morning in October on a football field in Middletown, Ohio. The sun is bright and the fans are cheering.

Game starts and I get blindsided by a very large man and end up breaking my humerus.

I have lost the mobility of my arm and it is something that I would not wish on my greatest enemy.

The image of a man being blindsided, the pain that he feels is what I went through everyday for 3 months. You don’t forget the event. Each day you are reminded that it be a scar or a just a lasting memory.

THE SCAR THAT IS STUCK IN MY MIND

This is what my arm looked like after I got blindsided. I have a picture of my x-ray in my room and at my high school in the trainers office. This picture reminds me of the struggles I had to go through during my injury and is also a symbol of pride because I overcame adversity.

SHIFT CONTINUED…

• I can no longer carry things around the house with two hands.

• I can’t even take a shower like I usually do anymore. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to shower when there is someone there helping you; because you can’t wash your body by yourself?

• After the Shift

• I have seen the world from a different perspective. I am thankful for everything I have. Especially the mobility of two arms because only having one sucks.

• I understand how hard it is to do things with one hand and how I can make the negative into a positive. I learned new strategies that I will use in life.

• I no longer worry about the small stuff and am thankful every day for the gift that God has given to me a fully functioning body.

COMMUNICATING MY SHIFT TO OTHERS

• I had communicated my shift to many people I started with communicating my shift to my family.

• I had to wear a brace on my arm for three months and each time I saw one of my family members I would explain to them what happened and would always stay positive.

• My parents were a huge part of my shift because they were there every moment of my recovery from those nights of intense pain to the strides that I made towards recovery.

NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• My family was one of the groups that I explained my shift to but there were other ways I communicated my shift.

• I wore a brace as stated above and people would see the pain that I was going through but every step of the way I stayed positive and people would give me looks of encouragement.

• I loved knowing that I did not have to explain what happened to my arm people just realized that I took a negative situation and made it positive.

• A simple smile from a person I did not know or a simple get better made me feel loved and made my shift easier for me.

Here is an image of the brace that I wore for three months. It was a major part of showing my shift. People would ask how I was dealing with my injury and my response was that things happen for a reason and that this experience has made me stronger.

FOOTBALL FAMILY

• There was a group of people who were there with me each step of my journey and that was my football family.

• I would not of been able to make it through this period in my life without my teammates.

• My teammates understood my shift and respect me for what I went through. The guys on the team are part of my family and I thank them at every chance I get.

• I also extended my shift to people on other teams they would ask what happened and I would tell them.

• I took a situation where a person could of shut down and made the situation a positive and in turn helped other people cope with their injuries.

REFLECTION

• I have told many people about my shift that you can not take anything for granted.

• The people I have talked to about my shift thing it is admirable, they were impressed by the way that I looked adversity in the face and came out on top.

• I hope that I have impacted my friends lives as much as they have impacted mine.

• All of my friends responses were positive which gave me hope, I live my life now with a the feeling that I am no longer invincible.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Great Quotes: -Pat Riley

"Greatest Inspirational Football Quotes." Greatest Inspirational Football Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. http://www.greatest-inspirational-quotes.com/inspirational-football-quotes.html