Motorcycle Accident Left Him Paralyzed, But Not Hopeless

April 13, 2012.

The day started out like so many before it.

John Pelaez was headed home from the gym on his motorcycle. But as he approached Oaksbury Drive on Countryway Boulevard, his life changed in an instant.

A Hyundai, driven by an 18 year old, was attempting to make a left turn from Oaksbury when Pelaez struck the left side of the car. Pelaez, 26, had to be airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital and spent his next month in a coma.

Pelaez was wearing a helmet and had not broken any traffic laws.

The accident struck a cord with many in the community who voiced concerns about the dangers of the intersection of Countryway Boulevard and Oaksbury Drive. Often people make the dangerous left turn without enough time to complete it, causing danger to people approaching on Countryway Boulevard. You can read some of those concerns in this story.

For John's family, it was more than a concern. It was now a nightmare. For weeks, Pelaez remained in a coma.

Each day his mother played his favorite music. Incubus. The Beetles. And finally, on Mother's Day 2012, the young man began making sounds, said John's mother, Olga Diosa.

"He was awake for a while, he started greeting his family and singing and laughing," Diosa recalls. 

But that joy would be overshadowed when John began to realize what had happened to him.

The accident left Pelaez wheel-chair bound and paralyzed from the chest down due to brain and spinal cord injuries. Doctors told Pelaez and his family he would not walk again.

"At the beginning, he was really mad," Diosa recalled. "You have to learn all over what happened to you."

After two months in rehab, Pelaez returned to his family's home in Westchase. He'd always been active, hitting the gym daily. He didn't smoke or drink. With a degree in retail merchandising, he'd worked at an upscale department store. All of that had changed.

"We were like a chicken with its head cut off," Diosa said.

John began outpatient rehab at Tampa General. But the rehab was more about living his life bound to a wheelchair. The family hoped for more. 

Enter Project Walk. 

The California-based spinal cord recovery center works to provide an improved quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries. The program involves rigorous workouts with the goal of helping clients become more independent. Pelaez began going to the Orlando Project Walk clinic twice a week. 

"I feel stronger afterwards," Pelaez said on a recent day about his workouts at Project Walk. "I feel better posture in my chair because before I could drop easily."

Insurance does not pay for Project Walk. That means John and his family shell out about $500 per week for his treatment, which pays for two days of therapy. After months of going, the costs are taking a toll on the family's finances, Diosa said. Pelaez has not been able to attend Project Walk for the past month.

As a result, Pelaez and his mother have launched a fundraising campaign at Causes.com

"This center gives me the support, hope and motivation that I need to continue the fight to make my life better and gain the strength to one day make my dream come true of walking again," wrote Pelaez on the website.

Pelaez, now 27, stays strong by having faith in God and realizing his situation could be worse. He has plans to pursue a master's degree in business at University of South Florida.

But he still has a desire for more.

"I want to keep moving on with my life. Not being stuck like this," he said. "I know there are ways you can deal with the disability, but I'm not that type of person that likes to sit in the same spot over and over. So for this, it's kind of like life put me on pause."

To help John Pelaez, go to Causes.com and donate.