Paraplegic recovers to finish half marathon

July 13, 2017, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Zach Washington-Young was in a terrible bus accident in 2012 which also killed two of his best friends. He broke his back when the then 26 year-old was catapulted through the windshield of a bus when it collided with a tree. He was told that he would never walk again.  Doctors told Zach that he would spend his life in a wheelchair.

Before the accident he had been an active young man and keen soccer player. Immediately after the accident his knew he was in serious trouble. He had passed out due to the impact but when he came to, he couldn’t feel or move his legs. A piece of bone had severed his spinal chord, and was told that he had absolute and permanent loss of the use of his legs.

Zach suffered from a long and deep depression for two years, but recovered and was determined to prove his doctors wrong. His mother supported him through that journey and through recovery, taking him to physiotherapy. They had him using an exoskeleton to help stimulate his muscles and to simulate walking. After a while he noticed a muscle in his leg twitch and that was when he ‘knew’ he would recover.

Intensive physio, and his family’s support (they moved to a town closer to the specialized physio he needed), led to hi graduating from the exoskeleton, to a Zimmer, to leg callipers, quad crutches and finally singular crutches. In 2015 he walked a mile.

He has since done a 5K race, and 10K race and a half marathon. He can now can walk unaided. His recovery is truly miraculous. You can follow his journey on Instagram here.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.