Joshua
IBOT PERSONAL MOBILITY DEVICE RECIPIENT
Joshua's bio in his words.
My name is Joshua Hogan Carter, and I am 20 years old. I was born and raised in Clarksville, TN. My dad's name is James, 52, and my mom is Michelle, 50. I have one brother and sister—Jackson, 22, who is working and getting his master's at APSU, and Addison, 16, a junior in high school. I graduated with honors from Rossview High School and played baseball for Rossview. I have played baseball most of my life. Upon graduating HS, I attended Tennessee College of Applied Technology, a technical college to learn trades. I was very hands-on, focusing on industrial/Electrical maintenance and Mechatronics. I was eight weeks away from graduating when the accident happened. We have contacted the school, and I plan to finish school as soon as I am well. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I love hanging out outside, playing football, kayaking, boating, and exercising. I enjoyed a gym membership at the Family Life Center and Planet Fitness. I love my truck and working on it/fixing it. I designed and built my computer. One of my favorite family trips is when we go to the beach. I enjoy all the Holidays, and we just celebrated July 4th together.
I worked part-time while in school for The Big Bounce (inflatable business). On July 9th, Saturday morning, at about 6:00 a.m., I was in a single-car crash on McAdoo Creek Road on my way to work. We just had a month-long dry spell, and it had just rained hard all night, and the roads were wet. I was life-flighted to Skyline Trauma/ICU where I fought for my life for four weeks. I suffered a spinal cord injury (C4, C5, C6). I also suffered some head trauma, but by the grace of God, there was no internal injury to my brain. I was fortunate to be accepted for recovery therapy at The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA. I am still at Shepherd working on getting stronger to live my best life. My family and friends have kept me going. My mom and dad have been by my side the whole time, pushing me. During my recovery, I have had several turning points. One that I specifically think of, and had a huge impact, was when I could finally talk again. With the intubation and, ultimately, the trachea, it took about 6weeks to have a voice again. Many nurses and doctors have been amazing to me during my recovery process, especially here at The Shepherd Center.
I am still recovering and receiving therapy at The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA. When I return home, I will continue living with my parents until I figure out how to work and ultimately live on my own. Having equipment like the IBOT will allow me to do almost all the activities I used to do with my friends and family. I don't want to be stuck at home because my regular chair cannot handle the terrain. I want to avoid burdening my family and friends with having to do everything for me to go places out of the house. This IBOT is life-changing equipment that would give me the feeling of empowerment, that I can do many things I used to do, and give me more independence. I worry that without proper equipment, I will tend to stay back or stay at home to avoid being a burden. I have learned from this journey in my life that I am thankful to be here. The advice I would give others about life is, "Don't waste what time God has given you. Life is a gift and is meant to be lived to the fullest. Work hard and keep pushing forward.
If accepted as a recipient of life-changing equipment, it would give me a better opportunity to get around so much easier to work towards accomplishing my goal of finishing trade school. I am still trying to discover what I want to do right now. But I would like to consider a job working on wheelchairs that need maintenance. I would also love to donate my time to help raise funds and talk to others with spinal cord injuries to motivate them to keep pushing forward and live their best life possible, no matter their limitations. If I walk again by God's grace and good medicine, I would donate all I have to those that need it.