Exemplifying one of the adversities he’s triumphed over in his life, local graduate Jeremy McGhee, 31, will be featured in an upcoming ski/snowboard movie, “One – A Lucid Experience,” set to premiere at the Sandbar Sports Grill, 718 Ventura Place in Mission Beach, on Friday, Dec. 7 at 9 p.m.
A 1998 graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University, McGhee was paralyzed from the waist down during a motorcylce accident six years ago at the age of 25.
“I was driving my motorcycle down Midway [Drive] and a lady made a quick left turn in front of me and I crashed into the side of her car and broke my back,” he said. “I’m lucky to be alive.”
It was just by chance that paramedics, who were eating nearby, witnessed the accident unfold and sprung into action.
“How long does it take to drop your food and walk across the street?” McGhee said. “That’s how long it took for them to get to me. If it wasn’t for them being there I would not be here today.”
Conscious during the whole event, McGhee said he immediately started to use his first-aid knowledge to assess his injuries.
“There was blood in my mouth, so I knew there was internal bleeding,” he explained. “I knew I had broken ribs.”
As a result, McGhee said it didn’t come as a surprise when he was told he was paralyzed. “When the doctors told me I knew already.”
Never one to lay down in the face of adversity, McGhee said the day he got out of the hospital, he set off on getting back to his old self.
“The day I got out I met this homeless guy in a wheelchair and he sold me my hand controls,” McGhee said. “I got in my truck and drove to Colorado to go skiing.”
McGhee relocated to Mammoth Lakes three seasons ago to work as a volunteer ski instructor for Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra, a nonprofit organization that uses adaptive equipment to assist people with disabilities in activities like skiing, snowboarding, horseback riding and rock climbing, according to www.disabledsportseasternsierra.org. It was there, he said, he was approached to be a part of the film when producers noticed him skiing down the hill on his adapted ski chair.
Produced by On Point Productions, a company that operates out of Mammoth Lakes, “One – A Lucid Experience” showcases athletes performing extreme feats, blurring the line between dream and reality, according to On Point Productions president Colin Farrell. It also chronicles McGhee’s pursuit of completing a 70-foot ski jump. “Whether you’re a skier, snowboarder, in Jeremy’s case an adapted ski-chair rider, what an individual is experiencing is the same,” Farrell said. “If you’re a skateboarder or surfer or mountain biker, it’s that pursuit of your passion. It’s that drive of making your dreams a reality.”
During the month and a half he spent in the hospital recovering, McGhee said he encountered a host of obstacles which would later inspire him to help others facing paralysis.
“When I was injured it was very chaotic,” he said. “I had plenty of friends to surround me but nobody knew what to do ” not even the hospital staff ” when it came down to medical decisions, applying for government aid, what kind of wheelchair to get, how to deal with medical insurance.”
McGhee said wants to share the invaluable insights he gained during his road to recovery with others who find themselves in similar situations.
“Your whole life’s torn apart, you’re just trying to wake up and make it through the day,” he said. “The point is, if someone had been there who had been through it before to help, it would have been a lot different.”
With his mission set in place, McGhee founded the Fight 2 Walk Foundation in order to mentor and offer assistance to other people with spinal cord injuries. The nonprofit organization provides crisis intervention in the form of consulting, casework visits, mentoring and providing aid. McGhee also lends himself for speaking engagements.
“So I started Fight 2 Walk to be a resource to people who’ve been injured, to assist them in getting their lives back together,” he said.
McGhee said he chose the foundation’s name for its double meaning.
“Just to explain the name Fight 2 Walk: the mission is twofold, that’s why the number two is in there. [It’s] to help people walk again figuratively and literally.”
The San Diego premiere of “One – A Lucid Experience” will also double as a fund-raiser for Fight 2 Walk, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the foundation, McGhee said.
As for the future, McGhee said he’s planning to donate more of his time to speaking engagements, mentoring others and pursuing his passions.
“We all have something going on. We all face the same choice in the morning ” that’s to embrace life or not,” he said. “We’re gonna die soon, and knowing that, we definitely should choose life, because life is way too short and too precious.”
For more information on Fight 2 Walk Foundation, visit www.fight2walk.org.