My Story

My name is Daniel and I had a normal life for my first 12 years. I loved playing sports, video games, the guitar and trumpet and hanging out with my friends. That all changed on March 9, 1997. I was playing basketball at my school gym when one of my 5 brain aneurysms burst in my head. I was in a coma for 30 days and in the hospital and rehab for 341 days, but who's counting?

On the second night the doctors woke up my father who was sleeping at the hospital and said, "your son has gone from bad to worse, get your family to say goodbye, he's not going to make it." My intracranial pressure in my head had gone so high that no blood or oxygen was going to my brain. I made it through but my recovery was very slow.

It's not like the movies where you wake up and say "What happened to me?" and start walking and talking. It took months and months before I started speaking and even longer before I started walking. I used a wheelchair for over 2 years but I was determined to walk again. Although I still have challenges I am happy to be alive and try the best I can. A motto that I read and used in my recovery and still live by is:

"Mile by mile, it's a trial,
Yard by yard, man it's hard,
Inch by inch, it's a cinch!"

Today I play the keyboard and started a music foundation with my father "for people with disabilities." I love music and love sharing the benefits of music with others. On this my 10th anniversary, I plan to finish the NYC Marathon, partially walking and partially in a handcrank. It will take me a long time but I am determined to finish.