7 powerful stories of recovery after injury TEDBlog

Posted by Kate Torgovnick May, TEDBlog November 28, 2012

Janine Shepherd, Pilot – A broken body is not a broken person. Athlete Janine Shepherd was rendered a partial paraplegic when she was hit by a truck during an Olympic training bike ride. Doctors didn’t expect her to recover. But she not only learned to walk again — she learned to fly.

Ed Gavagan – A story about knots and surgeons. One day, Ed Gavagan was sitting on the subway, watching two young med students practicing their knots. And a powerful memory washed over him — of one shocking moment that changed his life forever. An unforgettable story of crime, skill and gratitude.

Giles Duley – When a reporter becomes the story. Giles Duley gave up a life of glamour and celebrity as a fashion photographer to travel the world and document the stories of the forgotten and marginalized. While on assignment in Afghanistan he stepped on a landmine, a horrific event that left him a triple amputee. In this moving talk Duley tells us stories of peoples lost and found — including his. (Filmed at TEDxObserver).

Jill Bolte Taylor – My stroke of insight. Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

Simon Lewis – Don’t take consciousness for granted. After a catastrophic car accident that left him in a coma, Simon Lewis found ways to recover — physically and mentally — beyond all expectations. At the INK Conference he tells how this remarkable story led him to concern over all threats to consciousness, and how to overcome them.

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity. The thesaurus might equate “disabled” with synonyms like “useless” and “mutilated,” but ground-breaking runner Aimee Mullins is out to redefine the word. Defying these associations, she shows how adversity — in her case, being born without shinbones — actually opens the door for human potential.

Joshua Prager – My personal half-life. Billed as a journalist, he’s really a storyteller – with over a decade-plus career at the Wall Street Journal. In this harrowing talk from TED@NewYork, Joshua Prager describes a life-altering bus crash and its paralyzing effects. He shares a moment that was particularly meaningful for him—the exact minute when he had spent more than half of his life afflicted—and how he chose to spend it. Read a TED Blog Q&A with Prager.