WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 I'm actually going to share something with you 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.000 I haven't talked about probably in more than 10 years. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.000 So bear with me 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.000 as I take you through this journey. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.000 When I was 22 years old, 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.000 I came home from work, put a leash on my dog 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.000 and went for my usual run. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.000 I had no idea that at that moment 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:21.000 my life was going to change forever. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000 While I was preparing my dog for the run, 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 a man was finishing drinking at a bar, 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.000 picked up his car keys, got into a car 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 and headed south, 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.000 or wherever he was. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.000 I was running across the street, 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.000 and the only thing that I actually remember 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.000 is feeling like a grenade went off in my head. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:45.000 And I remember putting my hands on the ground 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.000 and feeling my life's blood 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.000 emptying out of my neck 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 and my mouth. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.000 What had happened 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.000 is he ran a red light and hit me and my dog. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.000 She ended up underneath the car. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 I flew out in front of the car, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000 and then he ran over my legs. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.000 My left leg got caught up in the wheel well -- 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.000 spun it around. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.000 The bumper of the car hit my throat, 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.000 slicing it open. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.000 I ended up with blunt chest trauma. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.000 Your aorta comes up behind your heart. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.000 It's your major artery, and it was severed, 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.000 so my blood was gurgling out of my mouth. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:28.000 It foamed, 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:30.000 and horrible things were happening to me. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.000 I had no idea what was going on, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.000 but strangers intervened, 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.000 kept my heart moving, beating. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.000 I say moving because it was quivering 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.000 and they were trying to put a beat back into it. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 Somebody was smart and put a Bic pen in my neck 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 to open up my airway so that I could get some air in there. 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.000 And my lung collapsed, 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.000 so somebody cut me open and put a pin in there as well 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:03.000 to stop that catastrophic event from happening. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.000 Somehow I ended up at the hospital. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:07.000 I was wrapped in ice 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.000 and then eventually put into a drug-induced coma. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:15.000 18 months later I woke up. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.000 I was blind, I couldn't speak, 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.000 and I couldn't walk. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.000 I was 64 lbs. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.000 The hospital really has no idea 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.000 what to do with people like that. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.000 And in fact, they started to call me a Gomer. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 That's another story we won't even get into. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.000 I had so many surgeries to put my neck back together, 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.000 to repair my heart a few times. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Some things worked, some things didn't. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.000 I had lots of titanium put in me, 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.000 cadaver bones 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:50.000 to try to get my feet moving the right way. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.000 And I ended up with a plastic nose, porcelain teeth 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.000 and all kinds of other things. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.000 But eventually I started to look human again. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:05.000 But it's hard sometimes to talk about these things, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.000 so bear with me. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.000 I had more than 50 surgeries. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.000 But who's counting? NOTE Paragraph 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.000 So eventually, the hospital decided 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.000 it was time for me to go. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.000 They needed to open up space 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.000 for somebody else that they thought could come back 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.000 from whatever they were going through. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.000 Everybody lost faith in me being able to recover. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:32.000 So they basically put a map up on the wall, threw a dart, 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.000 and it landed at a senior home here in Colorado. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.000 And I know all of you are scratching your head: 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.000 "A senior citizens' home? What in the world are you going to do there?" 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.000 But if you think about 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.000 all of the skills and talent that are in this room right now, 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.000 that's what a senior home has. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.000 So there were all these skills and talents 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.000 that these seniors had. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.000 The one advantage that they had over most of you 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.000 is wisdom, 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.000 because they had a long life. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.000 And I needed that wisdom at that moment in my life. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.000 But imagine what it was like for them 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:08.000 when I showed up at their doorstep? 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.000 At that point, I had gained four pounds, 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.000 so I was 68 lbs. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.000 I was bald. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.000 I was wearing hospital scrubs. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.000 And somebody donated tennis shoes for me. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.000 And I had a white cane in one hand 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.000 and a suitcase full of medical records in another hand. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:28.000 And so the senior citizens realized 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 that they needed to have an emergency meeting. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.000 (Laughter) 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 So they pulled back and they were looking at each other, 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.000 and they were going, "Okay, what skills do we have in this room? 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.000 This kid needs a lot of work." NOTE Paragraph 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.000 So they eventually started 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.000 matching their talents and skills 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.000 to all of my needs. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.000 But one of the first things they needed to do 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.000 was assess what I needed right away. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.000 I needed to figure out 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.000 how to eat like a normal human being, 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:59.000 since I'd been eating through a tube in my chest 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:01.000 and through my veins. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.000 So I had to go through trying to eat again. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.000 And they went through that process. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000 And then they had to figure out: 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.000 "Well she needs furniture. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.000 She is sleeping in the corner of this apartment." 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.000 So they went to their storage lockers 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:17.000 and all gathered their extra furniture -- 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.000 gave me pots and pans, blankets, 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.000 everything. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:25.000 And then the next thing that I needed 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 was a makeover. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 So out went the green scrubs 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 and in came the polyester and floral prints. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.000 (Laughter) 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.000 We're not going to talk about the hairstyles that they tried to force on me 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.000 once my hair grew back. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.000 But I did say no to the blue hair. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.000 So eventually what went on 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.000 is they decided that, well I need to learn to speak. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.000 So you can't be an independent person 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.000 if you're not able to speak and can't see. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.000 So they figured not being able to see is one thing, 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.000 but they need to get me to talk. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.000 So while Sally, the office manager, 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.000 was teaching me to speak in the day -- 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.000 it's hard, because when you're a kid, 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.000 you take things for granted. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.000 You learn things unconsciously. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.000 But for me, I was an adult and it was embarrassing, 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.000 and I had to learn how to coordinate 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.000 my new throat with my tongue 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.000 and my new teeth and my lips, 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.000 and capture the air and get the word out. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.000 So I acted like a two-year-old 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.000 and refused to work. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.000 But the men had a better idea. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.000 They were going to make it fun for me. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.000 So they were teaching me cuss word Scrabble at night, 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:46.000 (Laughter) 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.000 and then, secretly, 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.000 how to swear like a sailor. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.000 So I'm going to just leave it to your imagination 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.000 as to what my first words were 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:02.000 when Sally finally got my confidence built. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.000 So I moved on from there. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:09.000 And a former teacher who happened to have Alzheimer's 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.000 took on the task of teaching me to write. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.000 The redundancy was actually good for me. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.000 So we'll just keep moving on. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:22.000 (Laughter) 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.000 One of the pivotal times for me 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.000 was actually learning to cross a street again 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.000 as a blind person. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.000 So close your eyes. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.000 Now imagine you have to cross a street. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 You don't know how far that street is 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.000 and you don't know if you're going straight 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 and you hear cars whizzing back and forth, 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.000 and you had a horrible accident 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.000 that landed you in this situation. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.000 So there were two obstacles I had to get through. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.000 One was post-traumatic stress disorder. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:01.000 And every time I approached the corner or the curb 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.000 I would panic. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.000 And the second one 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.000 was actually trying to figure out how to cross that street. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.000 So one of the seniors just came up to me, 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:14.000 and she pushed me up to the corner and she said, 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:17.000 "When you think it's time to go, just stick the cane out there. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.000 If it's hit, don't cross the street." 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:24.000 (Laughter) 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.000 Made perfect sense. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 But by the third cane 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 that went whizzing across the road, 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.000 they realized that they needed to put the resources together, 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.000 and they raised funds 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.000 so that I could go to the Braille Institute 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.000 and actually gain the skills 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.000 to be a blind person, 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.000 and also to go get a guide dog 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.000 who transformed my life. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 And I was able to return to college 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.000 because of the senior citizens who invested in me, 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 and also the guide dog and skill set I had gained. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.000 10 years later I gained my sight back. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.000 Not magically. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.000 I opted in for three surgeries, 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 and one of them was experimental. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.000 It was actually robotic surgery. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.000 They removed a hematoma from behind my eye. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.000 The biggest change for me 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 was that the world moved forward, 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.000 that there were innovations 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.000 and all kinds of new things -- 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.000 cellphones, laptops, 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 all these things that I had never seen before. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.000 And as a blind person, 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.000 your visual memory fades 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.000 and is replaced with how you feel about things 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.000 and how things sound 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.000 and how things smell. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:41.000 So one day I was in my room 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.000 and I saw this thing sitting in my room 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 and I thought it was a monster. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.000 So I was walking around it. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.000 And I go, "I'm just going to touch it." 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 And I touched it and I went, 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 "Oh my God, it's a laundry basket." 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.000 (Laughter) 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.000 So everything is different 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.000 when you're a sighted person 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.000 because you take that for granted. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:05.000 But when you're blind, 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:08.000 you have the tactile memory for things. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.000 The biggest change for me was looking down at my hands 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.000 and seeing that I'd lost 10 years of my life. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.000 I thought that time had stood still for some reason 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000 and moved on for family and friends. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.000 But when I looked down, 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:24.000 I realized that time marched on for me too 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.000 and that I needed to get caught up, 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.000 so I got going on it. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.000 We didn't have words like crowd-sourcing and radical collaboration 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 when I had my accident. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 But the concept held true -- 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 people working with people to rebuild me; 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.000 people working with people to re-educate me. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.000 I wouldn't be standing here today 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.000 if it wasn't for extreme radical collaboration. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.000 Thank you so much. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:51.000 (Applause)