my life so far

​My name is mason branstrator and last year January 18, 2021 I was paralyzed from the waist down. After a year of uncertainty, grief and learning more than I could have ever imagined things are finally starting to feel somewhat normal. I have a routine, I have ambitions, I am happy.  

I have decided to document my journey for myself and anyone who might benefit, I will be writing a blog once a week for the year 2022. That’s 52 blogs to be exact, starting with this one. 

It was a normal day at my go to ski hill, my favorite jumps had just opened up for the season. Just as I was about to take off in a glorious fashion I thought to myself, “dang I’m going a little fast” but this was nothing new. Except this time it was. The next memory I have is waking up in the icu not being able to move my legs and feeling excruciating pain in my back. I had burst my t12 vertebrae, which sent shards of bone into my spinal cord paralyzing me from the waist down. 

In this kind of situation it seems unfitting to say that I was lucky, but I was. I had landed on my neck and somehow broke my back. My surgery went as well as possible later that day only taking 2 hours instead of the expected 4. I was not completely paralyzed, I could still feel my right leg. And 9 days after the accident I was flown to the best rehab hospital in the country. Lots of things went my way, and even despite the other challenges I have faced as a result of this accident things continue to go well. 

Although that’s just an optimistic view, in my mind it’s the only view. It has taken me a long time to reach this point. Hard work, discovering myself through listening to others and so many more things that I can’t wait to share on this blog. I am only at the beginning of my journey and that alone gives me the motivation I need to move forward.