By Gerard Moreno
My name is Gerard Moreno and I am 43 years old. When I was 24, I was shot in the chest during a home invasion robbery at point blank range with a .22 caliber gun. The bullet hit my vertebrae and shattered into my spinal cord at the T-8 (thoracic) level. In a second, I was a paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors told me that I was lucky to be alive; the bullet had torn half of my lung off and missed my heart by half an inch.
I considered myself to be in excellent shape, an athlete, on the track team as a pole-vaulter, playing high school football and an epee’ fencer on my college team. I was an avid skier and body surfer who loved all kinds of sports activities. I was living a very full life in all aspects and had bright plans for the future. I had dreams of someday making it to the Olympics in fencing.
I woke up after being shot with tubes coming out of everywhere; my nose, throat, arms, including my chest, which had four tubes going into what looked like an aquarium of bubbling blood at the end of my hospital bed. At the time, I thought living in a wheelchair would be the end of the world for me. I could not accept it for a long time, and at times, I contemplated suicide. I stayed in a state of anger and depression for months, thinking of the life I had lost and would never experience again. I was making myself miserable mentally, emotionally and spiritually, going deeper and deeper into desolation and despair.
Then, I hit bottom, I could not get any lower, and realized that it wasn’t over. I was lucky to have my arms and hands. I remember in my hospital, in the room across from mine, there was a quadriplegic C-3 (cervical). He had limited use of his hands and used an electric wheelchair. What was I doing feeling sorry for myself? I was still the same person with the same heart, brain, ambitions and dreams. If I were going to succeed, I would have to learn, adjust, adapt and be mentally focused and strong to overcome the new obstacles before me. I would become totally independent in every part of my life and start over.
I released my anger and decided to use this energy in a positive way. I was retrained in a computer-programming school and got the job as a data entry clerk. I started getting into sports by joining a wheelchair basketball team. I was aware I had to keep in shape physically to take advantage of any scientific breakthrough regarding spinal cord regeneration. I started meditating and developed my own philosophy about my connection with God, not a part of any religious group. I started to realize that I could make a difference to others helping to motivate other injured people in my same situation. It was a great feeling knowing I was helping another through a difficult time.
I was quickly promoted from clerk to programmer to senior analyst to database administrator. After awhile, I became "Manager of Information Systems" for a manufacturing company before starting my own business.
I participated in several spinal cord experimental programs, including one that was funded and is now in use across the country. I still have a dream of walking, but I’m not waiting for it to happen. I sit on the Board of Directors on two different, wonderful organizations. One makes it possible for the disabled to have fun skiing and the other helps them through hard times socially.
I started racing downhill and slalom in an off-road wheelchair about seven years ago. We race in specially built off-road chairs down the same courses as mountain-bikes all across the nation. I find it exhilarating to be out in nature going fast down a winding course. Last year, I captured the title of 1999 overall Downhill Off-Road Champion.
About five years ago, I started fencing again. It’s a lot different in a wheelchair (we are locked down in a frame), The action is much quicker but the game is still the same. My goal when I started fencing was to make the Paralympic Team for the 1996 Atlanta games. I missed making the team by a couple of hundred points, but I never gave up. I kept practicing and practicing and got on the U.S. team for the World Championships in Germany in 1998. Just this month, in Austin, Texas, I made the Paralympic Team for 2000 and will represent the United States in Sydney, Australia in October. I am currently the number one ranked Category B Saber fencer in the nation, and am ranked 13th in the world in both Foil and Saber. I am going to Sydney with one thing in mind: The Gold.
I currently fence, play wheelchair basketball, golf, tennis, scuba dive, race off-road, snow ski, water ski, play table tennis and kayak. I have my own business and travel all over the world. I am married to a wonderful woman and enjoy everything that life has to offer. I don’t take anything for granted and find that the most precious thing we have is the love we share with each other and with everything on this earth. I thank God everyday for this beautiful life.
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