Transferring in and out of the pool on Carnival Dream, without an accessible lift!

[@karaleeorchid4731]

Great transfer!! Good job!! 😊

[@haleyishuman]

Nice! love the kindness and respect the crew and guests showed.

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

We were so impressed with the generosity and kindness of everyone on board this trip. Thanks for watching!

[@susanh6877]

Great video and it's wonderful that Chris can manage his transfers. It is very, very unusual for a C5 Quad to have this amount of upper body strength, triceps and I see his forearms/hands have far more dexterity than a typical C5 injury, although somewhat limited. It may be helpful to share that his injury is not motor complete to spare others with C5 injuries thinking they will also have his strength post injury. I am C5/6 for 43 yrs from a car accident at age 15. Although I was spared and saved the majority of my sensation except for some temperature and all 'itch' (thankfully!) my motor functions are typical C5/6. No triceps, core/balance, pecs, wrist flexion, zero finger function. It is wonderful that Chris retained so much motor function, but it is not typical for that spinal cord level of injury. Bless you both and I hope you enjoy further journeys!

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

Correct, Chris is an unusual case, for sure. His right shoulder was also damaged extensively and required 2 surgeries, 9 broken ribs, collapsed lung, lots of scarring and a brachial plexus injury, too. His return has not been typical. I think it's best summed up that all SCI are different and much like our fingerprints, individual and cannot be copied. It took him about a year before he could tolerate sitting up and his core stability was junk. Getting to where he is today is nothing short of a miracle and we are certainly grateful. Sometimes it is easier to describe his injury as para, but then we get folks that want to argue that cervical spine makes him quad. Either way, we are happy and surviving, that's what truly counts. Thank you so much for reaching out, and we also wish you the best!

[@andrewkmak5722]

Hell yeah! Thats gotta be one of the smoothest transfers I've seen!

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

Thank you! Chris did great!!

[@karenhalgren3889]

AWESOME job Chris! I was worried watching you scooting back to your chair, No "rug burn" on yer hiney I hope...LOL. Glad your trunks stayed on too..hehehehe.

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

Thank you for all your support, Karen! We appreciate you!!

[@SPINALpedia]

Awesome tenacity!

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

Thank you! Chris has worked very hard to get this far!!

[@leroysmith8203]

Great video.

[@findinghopealongthejourney]

Thank you!