Disability doesn’t have to be barrier to adventure

Paul Theroux, a renowned travel writer and novelist, once said, “Most travel, and certainly the rewarding kind, involves depending on the kindness of strangers, putting yourself into the hands of people you don’t know and trusting them with your life.”

Like Theroux, Gene Rogers is a traveler who relied on strangers, family and friends for the support he needed for school, work and his many worldwide adventures.

In his memoir, Awesome by Accident, Rogers explores his challenges with personal independence after falling 43 feet from a cliff and landing on rocks resulting, in almost complete paralysis of his arms and legs.

He had fractured his neck, severed his spinal cord, experienced a head injury and broke his right shoulder.

Rogers said he had planned to join the Navy. It was 1972 and the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was not yet winding down.

“I had a sense of duty and public service and decided that after high school I would go into the service, do one tour and then move up to Alaska to homestead,” he said.

Instead, he went to college at Kent State, a hotbed of antiwar resistance, because the school offered a program for students to work as personal assistants for students with disabilities and receive financial aid to pay for their tuition.

“I had made a boatload of friends at Kent State who saved my life. I shudder to think what would have happened to me without them,” he said in the book.

Rogers recalls his coming-of-age experiences, relationships, sexual encounters, health issues and travel challenges with humor, honesty and openness.

When he was first in the hospital, his father was laid off by Ford Motor Co. and the family couldn’t afford to donate to the church they attended every week. When his mother called the monsignor to say her son may die soon, he told her she would need to have the hospital chaplain give him his last rites, as they were no longer considered parishioners.

“My faith was indeed shattered, but my faith in humanity was restored many years later when I met a number of Christians who embodied what I consider it is to be a true believer,” he said.

During the 50 years post injury, Rogers traveled to 44 countries and island nations, six continents and several oceans.

Many of his adventures were captured in photos in the book; skiing in Santa Fe, sailing on tall ships, skydiving, scuba diving, paragliding and trekking in the Himalayas on an expedition to Mount Everest base camp.

Rogers said since he became paralyzed, he has been plagued by urinary tract infections and pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, that can be deadly.

He said he would often take an extra dose of an antibiotic to stay healthy while traveling.

“I couldn’t control my bowels or bladder, so the physical injuries were only part of my newfound hell. The psychological injuries plagued me for years, and still do at times, but to a lesser extent,” he said.

“Getting used to incontinence and others’ help with one’s hygiene is no picnic,” he added.

Rogers earned several college degrees, worked in higher education, with nonprofits, state government and in personal finance in four states. But his true passion has always been traveling.

“Put me in a country where I didn’t know the language or culture, where I’m thousands of miles from home, and I’m perfectly happy. The one word that describes what I am is ‘argonaut,’ a person on a quest for something dangerous, seductive, and rewarding.”

Awesome by Accident is available on Amazon and can be download from www.booklocker.com/download.

Andy Winnegar has spent his career in rehabilitation and is based in Santa Fe as a training associate for the Southwest ADA Center. Contact him at winnegar. com.