Never Part of the Plan

Landing in soft snow caused me to pitch forward violently onto my head and neck, my feet shooting overhead like a scorpion's tail. With the devastating force of the impact, the entire weight of my body went straight to my neck, bending my head so far backward, something had to give.

It buckled.

My neck dislocated and snapped so fast, it opened in the front like a Pez candy-dispensing machine. My spinal cord severed, and I didn't realize I landed feet first-all I felt was the massive uppercut as my face hit the ground. It was like no other crash-I couldn't stop falling. I couldn't bounce back.

I couldn't self-erect, getting back to my feet.

Then, nothing . . .

At age 26, when Mike Shaw, freestyle skiing coach, stepped into the sunshine on a crisp Colorado morning, it never entered his mind by three-thirty that afternoon his life-as he knew it-would be over. Working with his team at the 2013 World Cup Competition at Copper Mountain, a catastrophic injury derailed his life's trajectory forever. "You'll never walk again," one doctor told him, knowing the prognosis wasn't good. Yet, with a mindset of courage, resilience, and gratitude, Mike proved his doctor wrong and, within three months, he took his first steps. Within the year? Skiing.

Now an international speaker, mentor, and coach armed with an 'attitude of gratitude, ' Never Part of the Plan chronicles the author's journey as he conquers a debilitating spinal cord injury, making the most out of life's unexpected curveball. Dedicating his book to all readers, his experience is proof all of us can overcome and thrive when faced with adversity. All it takes is courage, resilience, and . . . gratitude.