Todd G.
My love for outdoor sports began as a teenager when I first hiked the Appalachian Trail. I went on to backpack the Pacific Crest Trail with my wife and completed the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail with my family, including our two young children who rode llamas and tandem mountain bikes the last 500 miles as 6 and 8-year-olds. As our children grew older, we began to do more extensive cycling trips, including the 500-mile Camino de Santiago across Spain, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and Ireland. Coauthoring books with my wife and supporting her writing career, I grew to be a strong advocate and ambassador for long distance hiking and cycling, including how these sports can bring you closer as a family and healthier as a person both physically and mentally.
On November 26th, 2021, my life changed irreversibly. I slipped from a roof on my property and fell and broke my neck. After being life flighted to Reading and having emergency surgery to decompress and fuse my spine, my injury was assessed at an incomplete C3-C5.
While I was devastated by the tragic news that I was now a quadriplegic spinal cord victim with profound uncertainty about what my ultimate recovery would be, I was grateful to still have connections between my limbs and brain and the possibility of recovering connections through physical therapy, exercise, and hard work. This has been the work that my wife, Cindy Ross, and I have been dedicated to the past 3 years since my fall.
In this first three years of my recovery, I have been able to exceed the expectations of my occupational and physical therapists by being able to walk up to a mile a day with a cane and well as cycle up too 30 miles a day. Much of this is due to not only hard work but building nerve regeneration through exercise.
Part of my success is due to the fact that I was able to acquire an e-assist recumbent trike with the help of a grant from the IM ABLE Foundation. As an avid outdoor enthusiast and cyclist prior to my injury, I know that regaining mobility through an adaptive bike is critical to my long-term recovery physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Cindy and I have also dedicated the last twelve years to founding and growing a nonprofit called River House PA with the mission of serving veterans and supporting them in their healing from war and PTSD through cycling, hiking, and paddling in nature.
I continue to serve on the Board of River House PA leading groups on single and multi-day outings. Through this work, I’ve had the honor of meeting and working with many veterans with both mental and physical disabilities, and they inspire me and give me hope about the capacity to recover from profound injuries. I look forward to continuing to play an active role in this community through my use of an adaptive trike that allows me to participate in events, and also inspire others interested in learning about what similar equipment might enable for them.
Although I can walk quite far, it is very challenging as I have little feeling in my legs and feet and must stay ultra-aware of where I place my feet at all times. Cycling is much easier and more enjoyable on a rail trail where I am free to look around, enjoy the natural world, propel myself by my own power and feel as close to normal as positive. Cycling is my happy place!
In the spring of 2025, we will begin to cycle the Great American Rail Trail that stretches from Washington State to Washington, DC. Our team will be building awareness for the need of accessible nature for the disabled. We plan to connect to the media, veterans’ organizations, and bike clubs to spread the good news that nature heals. We will begin on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal, then head west.
You can follow our progress and support our efforts at www.cindyrosstraveler.com/road-to-recovery
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