I've been there also, which is why I posted the previous message. Not just another "cheerleader"!
MONDAY, JULY 25, 2005 12:00 AM
Injured dancer choreographs own recovery
Woman survives severe spinal injury by letting her spirit, dance training guide her
CHELSEA KING
Of The Post and Courier
As Marka Rodgers twists and flexes her body in dance class, it's difficult to believe she survived a devastating spinal cord injury.
Although she hides it well, Rodgers can't forget the day it happened.
"April 14, 1994, I got up, went to work," she said. At the time, "I had a great kid, a home, a mortgage, an all-American great life, and in a split instant it was all taken away it was changed completely."
Rodgers was working as an emergency medical technician when a stretcher carrying a large unconscious patient gave way and took her with it. Doctors told her that the accident was equivalent to that of a whiplash injury at 50 mph.
"I don't remember much of the first few days except the pain, denial, and more pain," Rodgers said. She had crushed part of her spinal cord at the base of her neck. Doctors told Rodgers she should have been paralyzed.
Like many dance students throughout the years, JoAnn Joyner was intimidated and inspired by Rodgers' talent. "The first few months I knew her, she was my dance teacher. I had no idea she was hurt," Joyner said.
Rodgers always had been an independent and unique person. "When I was a kid, I didn't fit in to any classic place in society, in school, in dance class or anywhere it seemed," she said.
Determined to figure out things on her own, Rodgers experimented with all kinds of performance arts, thought about quitting school and moving to New York, and, in the end, committed her mind and body to dance. Little did she know, her passion for dance would save her life.
After seven years of working in Argentina as a teacher, dancer and choreographer, Rodgers returned to the United States in need of a job and medical insurance for her new son. In 1989, a friend mentioned an opening at the James Island Fire Department. Rodgers first laughed at the idea. When asked "why not," Rodgers could not think of a good answer. She needed the job.
Soon after she started, Rodgers realized the similarity between performing in the theatre and fighting fire. She loved the adrenaline rush.
Rodgers' love for physicality, learned in her early dancing years, inspired her to become an emergency medical technician.
The accident happened only seven months into her job as an emergency medical technician. As she lay in her hospital bed, Rodgers couldn't grasp the severity and reality of her situation. She recognized the seriousness of it all when her doctor told her "if you sneeze you could be a quadriplegic."
After quickly getting her will in order, Rodgers underwent surgery and started on a long road to recovery. Not only was her body crippled by the accident, but her independence was as well.
"I was carried to the shower to sit in a plastic chair to be bathed. I would lie in my bed for days on end, barely able to get out, and shuffle to another room only to collapse and cry," Rodgers said.
During the months after her surgery, Rodgers fell into a severe depression and became suicidal. "Frankly the only reason I never committed suicide is because of my son," Rodgers said. "He is really the reason I am still alive today."
Rodgers knew that she needed to rebuild herself mentally and physically. After discouraging experiences at physical therapy, Rodgers began her own training program that drew upon her knowledge and passion for dancing. She slowly regained strength by pulling apart silly putty, pointing and flexing her toes, and stretching for hours.
While training, Rodgers listened to Christopher Reeves' book, Still Me, on tape. She identified with Reeves' voice. It was weak, barely recognizable through the hum of his ventilator, but resilient, like Rodgers' spirit.
Doctors tell Rodgers that if it weren't for her physical fitness at the time of the injury, and her dance-based training after the surgery, she wouldn't be able to walk today.
Rodgers trained daily at the MUSC fitness center. "I ended up in a corner, kind of hiding, just doing some of my exercises, stretching and building strength to support my head when one day a man came over to me and asked 'Are you a dancer?' and I responded, 'I used to be,'" Rodgers said.
Today, Rodgers considers herself a dancer once again. She is a part-time teacher of her own rehabilitation/fitness/movement therapy program at MUSC, and she is a co-creator, alongside Joyner, of a new dance company and studio, "Universal Physicality," or "UP."
Joyner said she believes that Rodgers is a unique teacher because she can offer something that many teachers can't.
"She's always been a 'go-er,' I get nervous for her sometimes because she'll go and go and go, and the next day she can't do anything. I wish she didn't have those days," Joyner said.
"Her injury helps her understand people's wants and struggles. She has such a wide range of life experience, she can relate to anyone," Joyner said.
Rodgers is inspired to keep going every day by Joyner. The 23-year-old owner/manager of the "UP" studio is not only a former student and lifelong friend, but she is living the dream that Rodgers was never able to.
With the excitement of the studio opening this week, Rodgers is committed to keeping a positive outlook. "The truth is we choose how to live our lives," Rodgers said, "and I choose to stay up."
The studio nor the dance company exist, but not for lack of trying... We do have limits and learning the boundaries between what we can and what we can't accomplish is part of the process! Hang in there!!!
(Original Air Date: 11/28/08) "I Survived!" Caught on Camera In the blink of an eye, your life can change. It doesn't matter how much money or success you have, there is no guarantee of a tragedy-free life. Dr. Phil's guests know this all too well -- they survived the unthinkable. Spencer was a high school football player who dreamed of playing college ball when an ordinary football game became his worst nightmare. See the play that nearly cost him his life. Now Spencer struggles to deal with his life-changing injury and the end of his dream. Then, Darren was a cameraman working the job of a lifetime: filming the 2008 Beijing Olympics. What began as a beautiful day visiting the Great Wall of China turned ugly in an instant when Darren was struck by lightning. Darren says he recognizes that he has a second chance at life, but doesn't know how to make sense of it. And, see dramatic footage captured by a man capsized at sea during a powerful storm. Believing he would die, Dom recorded his ordeal with his waterproof video camera. See these amazing stories caught on tape and examine how you would cope with a life-changing event. Are you prepared to handle a crisis? Share your thoughts, join the discussion.
