On Sunday, September 14, 2008, David James McCauley had a diving accident suffering a serious spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from the chest down. Motivated by the challenges of his recovery, David has decided to start the David J McCauley Foundation to elevate awareness about spinal cord injury and raise funding for: - Medical research - Individuals in need of adaptive equipment and alternative therapies. - Advancing the education and promoting the employment of people with disabilities. PLEASE JOIN OUR CAUSE! Rosaleen's Reflection September 14, 2009 One year ago today, around five in the morning, I was in the second ambulance of the night with my boyfriend David, rushing to the Trauma Unit at Stony Brook Hospital. I had no idea what was coming. I thought that we would get there and the doctors would say, "He's fine, it's a bit of swelling, give him a couple days to walk again." When they told me that he was paralyzed from the chest down, and may be for life, I fell to my knees sobbing outside of his room. They hadn't told him the diagnosis yet. They wanted to conduct more tests first, I never wanted him to hear those words. I ran outside for air and cried up to the sky. How could this happen, how could the most active man I had ever known lose his ability to skate through Prospect Park, surf Rockaways and Byron Bay, ride the Rockies with his snowboarding buddies, run with his dog, Tahoe, or dance with me? Pounding my fist against the unfeeling wall of the hospital, I never felt more alone in my life. Within hours his family was there. The McCauleys, my new family, came sweeping in from Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Manhattan and Long Island with amazing courage, strength and clarity of purpose. We set right to work, swapping night shifts as David fought fever after fever, watching the nurses like hawks, holding each other as he went in for repeated surgeries, interpreting facial expressions when his voice was blocked by a tube and he was too weak to sign with his hands, praying his lungs would get stronger, asking millions of questions. Where was the best place for David to heal? Since that horrible morning I have learned more about the resilience of the human heart, and the gift of humanity than I ever imagined possible. The thoughts and prayers poured in from around the globe. They jammed up his inbox, flooded our hospital rooms and enveloped us through restless nights. Everyone wanted to know what they could do, how they could help. David's old work friends and new work friends hosted fundraisers in New York. His Denver community hosted two, complete with costumes and auctions. Religious communities in Montreal, Central NJ, Thailand, Atlanta, and First Presbyterian in Muncie held special prayer sessions. One of his mother’s friend’s church groups, “The Knit Wits”, sent what we named 'the healing blanket' to keep David warm and safe. It seems all the artists in Muncie came out and donated something for either the art auction or the Christmas Jam in David's honor. When my mother and sisters came to visit us in Atlanta at the Shepherd Center our future was still unclear, would we get to go back to our lives in NYC? Would he ever work again if his fingers didn't wake up? One thing that I did know is that we would be okay, we were definitely not alone. I told my family that I felt as if I had the strength of the whole world behind me, that if I ever felt as if I couldn't bear it anymore I could just lean back and the love of our combined communities would hold me up and make it possible to keep on. And that is what has happened. Yesterday, David and I spent the day working on our respective non-profits from home. It was an amazing day. Thanks to efforts from Arizona to London (and everywhere in between) we are able to stay in our sun filled apartment next to one of the greatest cities in the world, and use our skills to help those less fortunate than our selves. When David was in rehab he met some amazing folks, most of them in their late teens or early twenties, whose lives were also turned around by one moment in time. Many of these guys do not have access to all of the resources and community of support that we do. That's who he is fighting for now. I have heard David tell the story of his new found passion to help those coping with Spinal Cord Injuries to a dozen people in the last two weeks. I never tire of hearing it, I haven't seen him this alive since that weekend last summer when he was sprinting with Tahoe, up and down the beach. And as driven as he's always been, I have never seen him this unrelenting! You can hear his enthusiasm and determination in his own writing, (especially the latest blog on his website.:)) We feel so very blessed to have such focus and passion in our lives, and to have the support to follow our dreams. "You've got your whole life to do something, and that's not very long." My girl- Ani DiFranco There have been dark hours over the past year, when we were consumed by thoughts of what we had lost, but they didn't last long. They were always intercepted by a phone call from family or a visit from a friend, or even a prayer from a stranger. What we have lost is nothing compared to what we have gained. We can never, ever, say thank you enough for all the love that you have shown. You have taught us that if you are open to it, the universe is very very giving. Love love love, Rosaleen |  |
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