Five years ago in New York City, Devon Squillas went out with friends for a night to unwind after a long week. Usually, when most people go out, they have a drink or two, maybe dance a little, have some tapas perhaps? This ended up being the case for Devon as well except for one more detail, falling six stories and nearly dying in the process. He recalls the night, talks about his rehab process and tells us how he was able to bounce back from being told he would be a paraplegic for the rest of his life.
The Night Everything Changed
When going to a club, the last thing you’re probably thinking about is whether or not you’ll fall through the roof before the night ends. Devon was having a great night, he had a couple drinks, was making new friends and eventually began hanging out with a girl he had met. They decided that the section of the rooftop bar they were in was too crowded, and they needed to get on the other side where there were noticeably less people. Devon walked us through the night, “It was June 24, 2017 and I went to a rooftop party in Brooklyn, NewYork. There were about 200 people on the roof and the moment I got up there, I had that intuition. I went to the edge, looked over, and I was like wow this looks dangerous, there's no railing here…The night went by and I was making friends, we ended up trying to get to the other side of the roof by walking on what we thought was a platform. It was actually an abandoned elevator shaft. The girl I was with was actually going to go up first but I was like, no, I'll be a gentleman, I got you. So I got up there first and stood on it, then grabbed her hands to pull her up. When I went to pull her up, the force shattered the glass underneath me, glass that I didn’t know was there…I let go of her hands, she fell back, and I went right through, falling six stories.”
Don't Accept the Unacceptable
Devon woke up in the hospital unable to move the lower part of his body. He was soon after told that he would not be able to walk, and would most likely be a paraplegic for the rest of his life. Although the diagnosis was seemingly definite, Devon would not accept it as truth. “What do you mean? I have to walk, there’s no other option” he said to the doctor. From that moment Devon began his intense mental and physical therapies, training himself to walk all over again. Slowly but consistently, he gained back his ability to do what we all take for granted, walk. Today, Devon has full mobility and one cannot tell that at one time he was unable to even get out of bed.
Devon's FighterHeart Advice
When asked what he believes it means to have a FighterHeart Devon said, “To me, a fighter's heart is someone who's got motivation and has no choice to continue moving forward.” We hear this advice all the time, but to see someone who actually followed through and took their own advice is truly inspiring. FighterHearts are born when individuals bounce back from the most dismal of circumstances, and Devon showed what it takes to do so. His advice for people who may find themselves in a similar situation? “...keep your head up and keep moving forward. If you get discouraged, there's always people out there that have been through what you've been through, you can do this” he said.
