This Wednesday, Fletcher Cleaves came and spoke to our class about his story. The story begins when Fletcher was about to begin his freshman year at Lambuth University as a starting football player. He was on his way back to his dorm with his roommate when a driver who was on her phone swerved into his lane. Fletcher lost control of his car and flipped into a ravine, landing upside down. Luckily, his friend was okay enough to run to get help; however, Fletcher could not move. After arriving at the hospital, he was informed that he broke his C5 and C6 vertebrae, resulting in a spinal cord injury. The doctor immediately began listing things that Fletcher would no longer be able to do, but this did not affect him. Fletcher always had the mindset that he could do anything that he put enough time and effort into. While he will most likely forever be in a wheelchair, this does not limit him to a certain lifestyle. Fletcher told us to always remember that the sky is NOT the limit. You define your own limits and can do anything that you work enough for. I greatly admire Fletcher's mindset on his condition. While some individuals with spinal cord injuries find themselves completely hopeless, Fletcher instead works hard to live the same life as he did before the injury. My main takeaway from his presentation was to not give up and let your injury or disability define you. Stay hopeful, work hard, and remember that the sky is NOT the limit!
Pat Summitt is well-known for being an exceptional basketball coach for the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, as well as being a coach for the women's USA olympic team. In 2010, Pat began showing subtle signs of dementia, but she ignored the signs for another year. In 2011, she was diagnosed at age 59 with early-onset dementia. She went to Mayo Clinic when she began experiencing symptoms including showing up to a game while leaving her car running and calling the wrong terms during the game. She also reported signs such as feeling disoriented when waking up in the morning. She reported that numbers were especially difficult to understand and deal with at this point. After her diagnosis, Pat was determined to continue coaching at UTK; however, after about a year she was encouraged to retire from her position as head coach. She then started the Pat Summitt Foundation to raise money and awareness for research about early-onset dementia. During the middle stages of de...
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