When I was 16 years old, my family went on vacation and decided to go swimming. My brothers and I are always competitive, and we were playing a game to see who could jump the farthest from the edge of the pool, and I dove. I knew the pool was shallow, and the idea was to dive shallow, but I think I over-rotated. I ended up hitting my head on the bottom of the pool and breaking my neck. I was unconscious, so my brothers lifted me out and called 911.
I remember waking up on the side of the pool, and my whole body was tingling. I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t sit up, and I couldn’t really control my arms. I was super confused. It turns out I had been paralyzed from my chest down. I needed several surgeries and spent that whole summer in the Neilsen Rehabilitation Center at the University of Utah. I did multiple hours of physical and occupational therapy every day, trying to figure out how to use my new body. I can’t feel or move my stomach muscles, my back muscles, or my legs. My arms and hands were also affected, so I can’t open and close my fingers.
One day, lying in my hospital room, I had a life-changing experience. I was looking out the window and watching people do everything that I couldn’t do anymore, and it was making me sad. I could see beautiful mountains out there, and I was just alone in my hospital bed in the dark. In my head, I thought, Nobody knows what I’m going through. Nobody understands. Nobody can even imagine what this is like. And then the Spirit completely overwhelmed me, and I felt a voice say, “Your Brother Jesus knows exactly what you’re going through.” And I just cried.
That moment was a big turning point for me. I knew Jesus would always be there for me and that He really did understand what nobody else did. Not long after, I served a service mission, and I began having a spiritual routine. I served in the temple three days a week, and I spent hours and hours studying the Book of Mormon and every gospel book you’ve probably heard of. I fell in love with studying the gospel. Before my accident, I didn’t have the Spirit in my life. I didn’t know the joy of finding an answer to a gospel question or of praying and actually receiving revelation. Studying the gospel became everything to me.
Since my accident, there have been very hard moments and sad moments and lonely moments. But one of the greatest miracles is that I’ve been blessed with an eternal perspective—the ability to trust Jesus Christ and to know that it will be OK. I have full trust and faith in Him, and that’s what allows me to live my life. We can do hard with Jesus, or we can do hard by ourselves. I choose Jesus.
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