John Hamilton's Road to Recovery

I dove in and smacked my head on the bottom. The force of impact was jarring. Fortunately when I hit my head it didn't knock me out immediately.  As I was winning the fight to stay conscious, I quickly noticed I was temporarily paralyzed and I started to sink towards the bottom of the pool ...panic began to set in as I realized I couldn't move my body even an inch to raise my head for a breath.  That initial panic quickly washed away and a calmness started to come over me as I focused on holding my breath...waiting for somebody to see me sinking and be able to react in time. In what was probably only 90 seconds a lot went through my mind.  I instantly thought of my son...how would he react if I died?  Had I done enough for him, taught him enough...

I thought of Cheryl, oh my angel Cheryl.... How can I leave her, how could I ever be without her and how mad she would be at me for letting something like this happen ...

My air was running out but I fought the urge to breathe and held on as long as I could, I had too much left to live for...

That's when a couple of heroes (Andy and Mike ) jumped into action and pulled my lifeless body from the pool. Mike being the man he is, stayed calm, knew what to do and SAVED MY FREAKING LIFE....he beat on my chest and began breathing air in my lungs until I was brought back. I awoke to Mike's calming voice telling me to breathe,  and my angel Cheryl looking at me with such concern, but as always, keeping me calm and telling me that everything was gonna be OK!

From that point on I've been in the capable hands of some of the very best neurosurgeons, nurses, EMTs as I am very blessed to have access to such good care. The first surgeon called me the luckiest man on the planet which was kind a hard to comprehend as I was laying there in dire pain feeling like such a dummy. I  had broke my neck in two places and put a deep bruise on my spinal cord which has left some temporary paralysis and tingling throughout my body.  I need some time to heal and I got some work to do but I'm going to get back to 100% God willing!

What I have received from this tragic event is a new lease on life l, a new chance to be the best me that I can be, it has given me such a great perspective. 

Immediately I was made aware of how many amazing people I have around me and how lucky I am, how blessed I am to have the kind of friends, family and love ones I do. 

The healing power of a simple "get well" message or someone taking the time out of their day just to acknowledge me ..find out if I'm OK I can't begin to explain how cathartic and uplifting they have left me feeling. Then, when I saw this go fund me page and I see the names of people who are donating...some who don't even really know me it's unbelievable, I am so blessed and thank God every day for the opportunity to continue this journey and for the opportunity to give something back in the future. 

**As many of you know my second day home from the hospital my angel Cheryl stepped over our dog ,tripped and broke her ankle in two places. She is now my couch partner as we both have a few weeks to heal. Once again the amount of people who have offered their time, help, and support leaves me staggered and truly feeling like The luckiest man on the planet. Thank you all ...God bless you all.