Accident victim shares inspiring tale of courage
Paralyzed accident victim back on his feet, inspires students with story
The students gathered in the gym at West Gate public school Thursday erupted in cheers and clapping at the sight of their guest speaker walking down the aisle to the front podium.
Without saying a word, Brock Mealer had already delivered a profound message of courage and perseverance.
The 34-year-old Ohio native spoke to approximately 500 students from Grade 3 to 8 about overcoming adversity to reach your goals.
Mealer was paralyzed from the waist down by a horrific Christmas Eve accident in 2007 that killed his father and his brother’s 17-year-old girlfriend.
When he awoke from nearly nine hours of surgery Christmas Day, doctors told him there was a one-per-cent chance he’d ever walk again.
That’s why the students celebrated his entrance, walking through the gym with the assistance of two canes.
“I just had this extraordinary feeling that I was meant to walk again,” Mealer told them, standing at the podium for his entire talk. “All you want to do is get back to where you were before.” Many of the West Gate students knew about Mealer before he arrived sporting a Detroit Red Wings’ jersey as part of the school’s jersey day promotion.
Jon Pillon, a physical education teacher, shares Mealer’s story whenever he’s teaching a segment on perseverance or character, including a video of Mealer’s dogged determination to walk again. The Ohio State grad spent two years in a wheelchair after the accident. On a visit to see his brother, an offensive lineman with the Uni- versity of Michigan Wolverines, Mealer met Mike Barwis, then the football team’s strength and conditioning coach. Barwis offered to train him on his journey to walk again.
“On the days when it gets tough, that’s when it gets hard to continue,” Mealer said. “Those are the days you need perseverance the most.”
Mealer gave his talk against a backdrop of photos showing his gruelling workouts, some of the elite athletes he worked alongside, including members of the Red Wings, and a video of his triumphant one-mile walk without the aid of canes or braces in Florida this past September.
He spoke of influence, inspiration, humility and achieving the impossible.
“I still have days where I get frustrated and things are hard,” he said. “I might fall but I always know that something great is around the corner.”
His message struck a chord with 12-year-old Tina Labutte-Seage. The Grade 7 student was diagnosed at 10 months old with Syringomelia, a condition that causes fluid buildup in the spinal cord. “I’ve been going back and forth to the hospital in London since then,” she said. “So I’ve been through some hard days. His message reminds me to reach for the impossible.”
Mealer works in the family’s concrete business and through the winter months when business slows, he travels the U.S. speaking about his journey.
Pillon saw Mealer wearing his personalized Red Wings jersey at a Wings’ game last year. He introduced himself and mentioned how he shares Mealer’s story with his students.
The seed was planted for Mealer to visit West Gate and tell it himself. It finally happened Thursday when Mealer took time out from a road trip up to Toronto to watch the Wings take on the Maple Leafs. He was invited to the game by Leafs’ coach Mike Babcock who met Mealer several times when he was rehabbing in Michigan and Babcock was coaching the Red Wings.
“Brock Mealer has been an inspiration to me for a number of years,” Pillon said. “Brock is an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. For our kids, this is a message they will benefit from.”
I still have days where I get frustrated ... I might fall but I always know that something great is around the corner.