#StandUpOrDieTrying

My Short Story

What’s up my name is JJ Mullaly I am 32 years old and was injured when I was 29 years old. I grew up in Poughkeepsie New York, where I wrestled and played soccer my whole life. I grew up with a very supportive single mom. Majority my life my father was incarcerated due to his alcoholism, something I also suffer from. I got involved with substances after high school. It turned into a lifestyle for me. I want nothing more than to be sober, but I cannot achieve it for long periods of time. My injury happened due to my substance-abuse. Anybody can message me for more information about how it happened. I came home for the weekend, and my life was changed from one bad night. I’m a C4 incomplete with a C2 to C7 fusion. I woke up on a trach ventilator, my kidneys failed, I was on dialysis and I could not move anything but my right shoulder and left my right arm just a little bit at first. I spent four months in a hospital. I got out, still very weak but I made it out in three months. I was told I would never be able to breathe on my own again. All of us on this page are warriors. It’s been 2 1/2 years post injury and things are turning around for the better, very slowly, but I try to stay as positive as possible. I’m getting a lot of core strength back. I have both arms moving and I was blessed to have my fingers come back. They are very weak, but I work on them daily. I’m huge into fitness and I’m blessed to have a lot of great people around me. The mind is a powerful thing I try to tell myself that every morning, I try to tell myself I’m here for a reason and if that gets me through the day then that’s a win for me and everybody around me. It’s rough the first two years and past that. The mental health aspects of before and after my spinal cord injury have a huge impact, I have to work on that every day. I hate saying this because of course I wish I was walking still, but I have to make the best out of each day and just grind harder and pray. God is good, so is a solid support system. God bless all of you. Much love ❤️💯🙏🏽