My name is Sofiea Clerico, age 70. I was paralyzed in a one-car accident January 12, 1972 while driving to work at Belridge Farms located between Wasco and Lost Hills, California.
In the intervening years I’ve found ways to live a good and productive life. I’ve more or less accommodated paralysis in practical everyday ways and I’ve made the emotional transition necessary to adapt. At least I’ve tried. I am still learning more ways to deal with catastrophic disability every day.
I live in Bakersfield, California, a small city in the San Joaquin Valley. The climate is not too extreme. Except for 2 or 3 months in the summer and a few weeks in the winter I can go outside at will. As Bakersfield grows, there is a growing number of quality medical facilities available to spinal cord injured or other severe or catastrophically disabled people.
I hope the candid sharing my experiences of the last 36 years, others can pick up a bit of information or insight to make their lives easier. That’s the purpose of the website.
There are chapters on my search for struggle to find accessible housing, the lawuit (which I really wish I could do over) a long battle with intractable pain. Perhaps the most difficult aspect is watching the impact my condition had on family and friends.The friends who fell away in the aftermath of the disability and the new friends I made.
Many, if not most, disabled and catastrophically disabled have big financial problems. The unending expenses occur at a time when the disability itself makes work very difficult or impossible. The U. S. government treats all disabilities with equal indifference and insufficient help. This impacts every caring family member and every close friend. I am working on that chapter and the chapter on pain now. They will be added here soon.
Every day Is challenging. Yet, I feel I had let down my kids and grandkids if I weakened, if I failed to do all I could to create a good life and keep a smile on my face. My mother made many sacrifices to give me a good life. She taught me to be prepared for life’s inevitable downturns and to take great joy in the good things which would come my way.
Mom often reminded me, “We come from sturdy peasant stock. It takes much more adversity to bring us down.” That always made me laugh. I believe I did inherit a stubborn nature which would “carry me through.” It keeps me going through the worst spinal cord injury dishes out.
The ultimate test of intelligence is the ability to adapt to circumstance. –Anonymous.
An auto accident in January of 1972 left me with spinal cord injury at T-4 .It is defined at apparalyzed.com as:
“The level of injury, otherwise known as a lesion, is the exact point in the spinal cord at which damage has occurred. The levels are determined by counting the nerves from the top of the spine downwards, and these nerves are grouped into four different area’s. These are the Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar and Sacral parts of the spinal cord.
These areas are important in defining quadriplegia and paraplegia, as damage to the spinal cord as these points directly determines how groups of muscles, organs and sensations will be affected.
How the spinal cord has been damage is also a consideration when evaluating a spinal cord injury. There are two types of lesion, these are a complete injury and an incomplete injury. Someone with a complete injury will have complete loss of muscle control and sensation below their level of lesion. An incomplete injury is where maybe only the muscles have been paralyzed, or where there is impaired sensation.”
Every year in the USA another 11,000 people are paralyzed through spinal cord injury and must make the long journey into a radically altered life style.
The writing of this blog began in September, 08. Updating, correcting and adding to this effort every day or so for at least a year is the plan. I write in the afternoon. After I’ve tucked in at night memories come flooding in on the topic addressed that day. The next afternoon I’m slogging away adding details and flourishes, correcting errors and expanding the text.
My experience as a wheelchair person with the city of Bakersfield has been positive — except for the air quality which is poor most of the year. Bakersfield also needs to expand its bus service, though all its buses are adapted for wheelchairs. A few times I’ve noticed a street downtown needs a curb cut or two or an existing curb cut needs repair. The city sends out people right away to make the needed changes.
Son Erin is an internet software engineer and owner of Weblogger.com. He made this website available to me. You may send questions or comments. My wheelchair tolerance is limited. Therefore, I may not be able to answer all e-mail promptly. I will try to answer everyone, but there will be times when I can’t.
My two sons, now 50 and 47 live here. Erin has two children, Courtney, 18 and Tucker 15. Son Kevin has four children, Nicholas 20, Brenden 14, Shelby 18 and step-daughter Dasha 18. My daughter Julie left us in 1998, a victim of an Oligodendroglioma brain tumor. The close extended family now is nephew Dr. Norman Bussell and his special friend, Elaine McNearney who also live nearby. I was divorced before the accident occurred.
Sofiea Clerico The site is powered by Weblogger.com