0:00:08.746,0:00:10.738
I'm thrilled to be here today.

0:00:10.741,0:00:12.907
I'm actually going to share[br]something with you

0:00:12.931,0:00:15.828
I haven't talked about[br]probably in more than 10 years.

0:00:15.852,0:00:18.876
So bear with me as I take you[br]through this journey.

0:00:19.522,0:00:20.997
When I was 22 years old,

0:00:21.021,0:00:24.523
I came home from work,[br]put a leash on my dog

0:00:24.547,0:00:26.301
and went for my usual run.

0:00:27.253,0:00:28.940
I had no idea that at that moment,

0:00:28.964,0:00:30.876
my life was going to change forever.

0:00:31.575,0:00:34.305
While I was preparing my dog for the run,

0:00:35.122,0:00:38.272
a man was finishing drinking at a bar,

0:00:38.296,0:00:40.637
picked up his car keys, got into a car

0:00:40.661,0:00:42.193
and headed south,

0:00:42.217,0:00:43.891
or wherever he was.

0:00:45.176,0:00:46.724
I was running across the street,

0:00:46.748,0:00:48.928
and the only thing[br]that I actually remember

0:00:48.952,0:00:51.419
is feeling like a grenade[br]went off in my head.

0:00:52.118,0:00:55.800
And I remember[br]putting my hands on the ground

0:00:55.824,0:00:57.686
and feeling my life's blood

0:00:57.710,0:01:01.138
emptying out of my neck and my mouth.

0:01:03.118,0:01:05.298
What had happened is, he ran a red light

0:01:05.322,0:01:06.899
and hit me and my dog.

0:01:07.463,0:01:09.485
She ended up underneath the car.

0:01:10.797,0:01:12.358
I flew out in front of the car,

0:01:12.382,0:01:14.572
and then he ran over my legs.

0:01:14.596,0:01:16.818
My left leg got caught up[br]in the wheel well --

0:01:16.842,0:01:18.115
spun it around.

0:01:21.092,0:01:23.155
The bumper of the car hit my throat,

0:01:23.179,0:01:24.679
slicing it open.

0:01:25.624,0:01:27.590
I ended up with blunt chest trauma.

0:01:28.248,0:01:32.241
Your aorta comes up behind your heart,[br]it's your major artery --

0:01:32.265,0:01:37.102
and it was severed, so my blood[br]was gurgling out of my mouth.

0:01:37.126,0:01:40.721
It foamed, and ... horrible things[br]were happening to me.

0:01:43.101,0:01:44.791
I had no idea what was going on,

0:01:44.815,0:01:46.466
but strangers intervened,

0:01:47.799,0:01:49.988
kept my heart moving, beating.

0:01:50.400,0:01:52.686
I say "moving," because it was quivering,

0:01:52.710,0:01:55.376
and they were trying to put[br]a beat back into it.

0:01:55.710,0:01:58.671
Somebody was smart[br]and put a Bic pen in my neck

0:01:58.695,0:02:02.029
to open up my airway,[br]so I could get some air in there.

0:02:02.053,0:02:03.376
And my lung collapsed,

0:02:03.400,0:02:06.375
so somebody cut me open[br]and put a pen in there as well,

0:02:08.399,0:02:12.674
to stop that catastrophic[br]event from happening.

0:02:13.497,0:02:15.693
Somehow I ended up at the hospital.

0:02:15.717,0:02:16.980
I was wrapped in ice,

0:02:17.004,0:02:20.022
and then eventually put[br]into a drug-induced coma.

0:02:22.070,0:02:24.491
Eighteen months later, I woke up.

0:02:25.510,0:02:27.376
I was blind, I couldn't speak

0:02:27.400,0:02:29.289
and I couldn't walk.

0:02:29.313,0:02:31.145
I was 64 pounds.

0:02:35.185,0:02:39.172
The hospital really has no idea[br]what to do with people like that.

0:02:39.196,0:02:41.966
And in fact, they started[br]to call me a "gomer."

0:02:42.400,0:02:44.856
That's another story[br]we won't even get into.

0:02:46.333,0:02:49.666
I had so many surgeries[br]to put my neck back together,

0:02:49.690,0:02:51.376
to repair my heart a few times.

0:02:51.400,0:02:53.918
Some things worked, some things didn't.

0:02:53.942,0:02:55.833
I had lots of titanium put in me;

0:02:55.857,0:02:57.269
cadaver bones,

0:02:57.293,0:03:00.071
to try to get my feet[br]moving the right way.

0:03:00.570,0:03:02.295
And I ended up with a plastic nose,

0:03:02.319,0:03:04.509
porcelain teeth[br]and all kinds of other things.

0:03:04.533,0:03:06.911
But eventually,[br]I started to look human again.

0:03:09.680,0:03:10.830
But ...

0:03:13.741,0:03:15.985
It's hard sometimes[br]to talk about these things,

0:03:16.009,0:03:17.277
so bear with me.

0:03:18.193,0:03:20.571
I had more than 50 surgeries.

0:03:20.595,0:03:22.196
But who's counting?

0:03:22.220,0:03:24.003
(Laughter)

0:03:24.027,0:03:27.274
So eventually, the hospital decided[br]it was time for me to go.

0:03:27.298,0:03:30.132
They needed to open up[br]space for somebody else

0:03:30.156,0:03:33.376
that they thought could come back

0:03:33.400,0:03:36.376
from whatever they were going through.

0:03:36.400,0:03:39.258
Everybody lost faith in me[br]being able to recover.

0:03:39.798,0:03:42.837
So they basically put a map[br]up on the wall, threw a dart,

0:03:42.861,0:03:45.856
and it landed at a senior home,[br]here in Colorado.

0:03:47.400,0:03:49.639
And I know all of you[br]are scratching your head:

0:03:49.663,0:03:50.890
"A senior citizens' home?

0:03:50.914,0:03:53.044
What in the world[br]are you going to do there?"

0:03:53.068,0:03:55.499
But if you think about[br]all of the skills and talent

0:03:55.523,0:03:58.071
that are in this room right now,

0:03:58.095,0:04:00.134
that's what a senior home has.

0:04:00.158,0:04:02.220
So there were all these skills and talents

0:04:02.244,0:04:03.727
that these seniors had.

0:04:04.200,0:04:07.065
The one advantage[br]they had over most of you

0:04:07.089,0:04:08.240
is wisdom,

0:04:08.264,0:04:10.454
because they had a long life.

0:04:11.010,0:04:13.604
And I needed that wisdom[br]at that moment in my life.

0:04:14.255,0:04:16.051
But imagine what it was like for them

0:04:16.075,0:04:17.971
when I showed up at their doorstep.

0:04:18.916,0:04:22.480
At that point, I had gained[br]four pounds, so I was 68 pounds.

0:04:22.901,0:04:24.144
I was bald.

0:04:24.779,0:04:26.786
I was wearing hospital scrubs.

0:04:26.810,0:04:29.477
And somebody donated tennis shoes for me.

0:04:30.101,0:04:32.672
And I had a white cane in one hand

0:04:32.694,0:04:35.702
and a suitcase full of medical[br]records in another hand.

0:04:36.083,0:04:38.274
So the senior citizens realized

0:04:38.298,0:04:40.590
that they needed to have[br]an emergency meeting.

0:04:40.614,0:04:42.376
(Laughter)

0:04:42.400,0:04:45.376
So they pulled back[br]and they were looking at each other,

0:04:45.400,0:04:49.471
and they were going, "OK,[br]what skills do we have in this room?

0:04:49.495,0:04:51.630
This kid needs a lot of work."

0:04:52.169,0:04:56.978
So they eventually started[br]matching their talents and skills

0:04:57.002,0:04:58.376
to all of my needs.

0:04:58.915,0:05:01.075
But one of the first things[br]they needed to do

0:05:01.099,0:05:03.274
was assess what I needed right away.

0:05:03.298,0:05:06.437
I needed to figure out how to eat[br]like a normal human being,

0:05:06.461,0:05:09.802
since I'd been eating[br]through a tube in my chest

0:05:09.826,0:05:11.376
and through my veins.

0:05:11.400,0:05:14.603
So I had to go[br]through trying to eat again.

0:05:14.627,0:05:16.376
And they went through that process.

0:05:16.809,0:05:18.376
And then they had to figure out:

0:05:18.400,0:05:20.151
"Well, she needs furniture.

0:05:20.175,0:05:23.256
She is sleeping in the corner[br]of this apartment."

0:05:23.280,0:05:25.376
So they went to their storage lockers

0:05:25.400,0:05:27.376
and all gathered their extra furniture --

0:05:27.400,0:05:29.541
gave me pots and pans, blankets --

0:05:30.938,0:05:32.114
everything.

0:05:33.217,0:05:36.695
And then the next thing that I needed

0:05:36.719,0:05:37.885
was a makeover.

0:05:38.196,0:05:39.346
(Laughter)

0:05:39.370,0:05:40.925
So out went the green scrubs,

0:05:40.949,0:05:43.815
and in came the polyester[br]and floral prints.

0:05:43.839,0:05:48.130
(Laughter)

0:05:48.154,0:05:50.262
We're not going to talk[br]about the hairstyles

0:05:50.286,0:05:53.364
they tried to force on me[br]once my hair grew back.

0:05:53.903,0:05:55.638
But I did say no to the blue hair.

0:05:55.662,0:05:57.795
(Laughter)

0:05:59.217,0:06:02.893
So eventually, what went on is,

0:06:02.917,0:06:05.797
they decided that, well,[br]I need to learn to speak.

0:06:05.821,0:06:07.625
You can't be an independent person

0:06:07.649,0:06:10.376
if you're not able to speak[br]and you can't see.

0:06:10.400,0:06:13.317
So they figured not being able[br]to see is one thing,

0:06:13.341,0:06:14.919
but they need to get me to talk.

0:06:15.400,0:06:18.376
So while Sally, the office manager,

0:06:18.400,0:06:20.296
was teaching me to speak in the day --

0:06:20.320,0:06:24.445
it's hard, because when you're a kid,[br]you take things for granted.

0:06:24.469,0:06:26.166
You learn things unconsciously.

0:06:26.190,0:06:29.657
But for me, I was an adult[br]and it was embarrassing,

0:06:29.681,0:06:33.583
and I had to learn how to coordinate[br]my new throat with my tongue

0:06:33.607,0:06:36.376
and my new teeth and my lips,

0:06:36.400,0:06:38.871
and capture the air and get the word out.

0:06:38.895,0:06:40.723
So, I acted like a two-year-old,

0:06:40.747,0:06:42.483
and refused to work.

0:06:44.052,0:06:46.540
But the men had a better idea.

0:06:46.564,0:06:48.886
They were going to make it fun for me.

0:06:48.910,0:06:52.685
So they were teaching me[br]cuss-word Scrabble at night.

0:06:52.709,0:06:55.824
(Laughter)

0:06:57.012,0:07:00.642
And then, secretly,[br]how to swear like a sailor.

0:07:00.666,0:07:01.679
(Laughter)

0:07:01.703,0:07:05.511
I'm going to just leave it[br]to your imagination

0:07:05.535,0:07:08.051
as to what my first words were --

0:07:08.075,0:07:09.066
(Laughter)

0:07:09.090,0:07:12.067
when Sally finally got[br]my confidence built.

0:07:12.091,0:07:14.280
(Laughter)

0:07:14.304,0:07:16.304
So I moved on from there.

0:07:16.328,0:07:19.504
And a former teacher[br]who happened to have Alzheimer's

0:07:19.528,0:07:21.859
took on the task of teaching me to write.

0:07:23.256,0:07:25.573
The redundancy was actually good for me.

0:07:25.597,0:07:27.376
So, we'll just keep moving on.

0:07:27.400,0:07:31.610
(Laughter)

0:07:34.269,0:07:36.464
One of the pivotal times for me

0:07:36.488,0:07:39.155
was actually learning[br]to cross the street again

0:07:39.179,0:07:40.821
as a blind person.

0:07:41.900,0:07:43.369
So close your eyes.

0:07:44.161,0:07:47.055
Now imagine you have to cross a street.

0:07:47.079,0:07:49.642
You don't know how far that street is,

0:07:50.761,0:07:53.376
and you don't know[br]if you're going straight.

0:07:53.400,0:07:55.959
And you hear cars whizzing back and forth,

0:07:56.808,0:07:58.376
and you had a horrible accident

0:07:58.400,0:08:00.693
that landed you in this situation.

0:08:01.193,0:08:03.747
So there were two obstacles[br]I had to get through.

0:08:04.400,0:08:07.189
One was post-traumatic stress disorder.

0:08:07.832,0:08:11.593
Every time I approached[br]the corner or the curb,

0:08:11.617,0:08:12.904
I would panic.

0:08:12.928,0:08:14.729
And the second one

0:08:14.753,0:08:17.887
was actually trying to figure out[br]how to cross that street.

0:08:18.400,0:08:21.286
So one of the seniors just came up to me,

0:08:21.310,0:08:24.642
and she pushed me[br]up to the corner and said,

0:08:24.666,0:08:27.661
"When you think it's time to go,[br]just stick the cane out there.

0:08:27.685,0:08:29.512
If it's hit, don't cross the street."

0:08:29.536,0:08:35.030
(Laughter)

0:08:35.054,0:08:36.480
Made perfect sense.

0:08:36.504,0:08:37.640
(Laughter)

0:08:37.664,0:08:41.254
But by the third cane[br]that went whizzing across the road --

0:08:41.278,0:08:42.629
(Laughter)

0:08:42.653,0:08:45.710
they realized that they needed[br]to put their resources together,

0:08:45.734,0:08:47.204
and they raised funds

0:08:47.228,0:08:49.315
so that I could go[br]to the Braille Institute

0:08:49.339,0:08:53.936
and actually gain the skills[br]to be a blind person,

0:08:53.960,0:08:55.958
and also to go get a guide dog,

0:08:55.982,0:08:57.352
who transformed my life.

0:08:57.855,0:08:59.624
And I was able to return to college

0:08:59.648,0:09:03.376
because of the senior citizens[br]who invested in me,

0:09:03.400,0:09:06.533
and also the guide dog[br]and skill set I had gained.

0:09:07.400,0:09:09.670
Ten years later, I gained my sight back.

0:09:09.694,0:09:11.083
Not magically --

0:09:11.765,0:09:14.734
I opted in for three surgeries,

0:09:14.758,0:09:16.628
and one of them was experimental.

0:09:16.652,0:09:18.376
It was actually robotic surgery

0:09:18.400,0:09:20.898
that removed a hematoma[br]from behind my eye.

0:09:22.996,0:09:27.825
The biggest change for me[br]was that the world moved forward,

0:09:27.849,0:09:31.891
that there were innovations[br]and all kinds of new things --

0:09:31.915,0:09:33.844
cellphones, laptops,

0:09:33.868,0:09:36.515
all these things[br]that I had never seen before.

0:09:36.539,0:09:38.191
And as a blind person,

0:09:38.215,0:09:40.734
your visual memory fades,

0:09:40.758,0:09:44.776
and is replaced with how you[br]feel about things

0:09:44.800,0:09:46.619
and how things sound

0:09:46.643,0:09:48.000
and how things smell.

0:09:49.400,0:09:51.886
So one day, I was in my room

0:09:51.910,0:09:53.983
and I saw this thing sitting in my room.

0:09:54.007,0:09:55.376
I thought it was a monster,

0:09:55.400,0:09:57.515
so I was walking around it.

0:09:57.539,0:09:59.541
And I go, "I'm just going to touch it."

0:09:59.565,0:10:00.947
And I touched it and I went,

0:10:00.971,0:10:03.089
"Oh my God, it's a laundry basket."

0:10:04.232,0:10:07.114
(Laughter)

0:10:08.117,0:10:12.153
Everything is different[br]when you're a sighted person,

0:10:12.177,0:10:13.839
because you take that for granted.

0:10:13.863,0:10:17.874
But when you're blind,[br]you have the tactile memory for things.

0:10:18.715,0:10:21.264
The biggest change for me[br]was looking down at my hands

0:10:21.288,0:10:24.108
and seeing that I'd lost[br]10 years of my life.

0:10:25.201,0:10:28.260
I thought that time[br]had stood still for some reason

0:10:28.284,0:10:30.118
and moved on for family and friends.

0:10:30.142,0:10:31.626
But when I looked down,

0:10:31.650,0:10:34.220
I realized that time[br]marched on for me, too,

0:10:34.244,0:10:35.968
and that I needed to get caught up.

0:10:35.992,0:10:37.467
So I got going on it.

0:10:39.067,0:10:42.987
We didn't have words like "crowdsourcing"[br]and "radical collaboration"

0:10:43.011,0:10:44.376
when I had my accident.

0:10:44.753,0:10:46.516
But the concept held true --

0:10:46.540,0:10:48.953
people working with people to rebuild me;

0:10:48.977,0:10:51.786
people working with people[br]to reeducate me.

0:10:51.810,0:10:53.627
I wouldn't be standing here today

0:10:53.651,0:10:57.376
if it wasn't for extreme[br]radical collaboration.

0:10:57.400,0:10:58.694
Thank you so much.

0:10:58.718,0:11:02.201
(Applause)