E262: When Life Changes in an Instant, Guest, Doug Heir

Okay, so...

Now your brother went to work with you, and I think your brother was one of the key people here, wasn't he?

Absolutely, my brother was great.

My parents were incredible.

They never set low expectations for me.

They said, you want to still be a lawyer? We're going to get you to be a lawyer.

But you have to just...

Take it a day at a time, even maybe a minute at a time.

And for the audience listening, sometimes life is overwhelming.

That's why don't try to figure out your whole life in a moment.

Don't try to look at the worst things that could happen.

Just take a little step at a time, baby step it.

Get a little bit better, a little bit healthier, a little bit stronger, and then you can start moving forward.

So

how did you get to the point where you decided that you're going to be a Paralympian?

Well, it was funny.

When I was in the hospital, they had some Paralympians visit me in the hospital.

I was like, oh, I don't want to be one of those handicapped guys pushing around in a wheelchair because I knew nothing about it.

And I started getting stronger.

And before I knew it, I was lifting hundreds of pounds of weights again and being strong.

Even though my finger dexterity, I broke my neck, so I'm considered quadriplegic.

So quad being forelimbs affected by paralysis.

So my hands don't work and my arms are pretty strong.

But I had to restart my power lights from the chest down.

So I had to learn how to sit in a wheelchair, push a wheelchair.