From there Roy knew that he had face up to his new reality and really understand the situation he was facing.
“I think that’s something that takes a period of time for someone to get to understand – that something has happened and that it’ll never be the same, but it can be awesome.”
By learning how to love himself for who he was, Roy was able to get through all of the rapid and often overwhelming changes that followed. Besides, he found his spinal cord injury acted as a natural filter which showed him who his true friends were in life.
“Life changing event lets you weed out the individuals you once thought were super close people in your life.”
Self-love is something he stresses in terms of being able to move forward, because only then is it possible to manifest whatever life you want. He definitely found dark moments when wondering why this had happened to him, but by putting his accident in the past and staying present he saw the possibilities opening up rapidly before him.
After his injury, Roy quickly learnt people were the biggest help – and suggests the faster you can meet and surround yourself with other people, the sooner you’ll reach that understanding and be able to move forward with your life.
“Surround yourself with good people – this allows you to create an ohana that’s not connected by blood, but something deeper – love for one another.”
The importance of having an ohana is huge, because after all, it takes a community to overcome the challenges that await in this new life journey.
“You’ve got to be comfortable with being vulnerable.”
Roy hates to hear himself say this, but if anything, he believes there is no better time than now to have a spinal cord injury. Compared to when he injured himself in 2006, the amount of information and resources that are available now is just astonishing.
“Then think about what it was like in the early 90s… there was no talk about it until the man himself, Superman, Christopher Reeve had one, and started to shed light on this issue that affects a quarter of a million people a year.”
Let’s face it, a spinal cord injury sucks and they change your life irrevocably. So having access to as many resources, information and help as possible makes life a lot easier.
In fact, that is Roy’s number one tip for those who are newly injured – be open to everything, and utilise technology and the internet as much as possible to inspire yourself.