My fiance, Larry, is currently in an acute rehabilitation center for the next 4 - 6 weeks due to surgery and is totally unaware of what I/we are attempting to accomplish. Yesterday, I found new hope in humanity, friendship and the spirit of paying it forward! I was informed by close friends who are in the construction business that they would like to remodel our current bathroom to make it wheelchair accessible; all of this prior to Larry's return home. Currently, we have a large tub and it can take Larry up to 1/2 hour to maneuver onto his shower chair. Typically, he injures or scraps his legs during every attempt. Therefore, I am asking for your help, whether it be through monetary donations or suggestions for fundraisers, in an effort to come up with the money necessary for materials. We have attempted to get assistance through grants and organizations, however the economy and lack of funding has not been on our side. At this point, I am unaware of what such an undertaking will cost, but I wanted to get the word out there now so that when I do, I can see the bigger picture at hand. On that note, this is Larry's story; I'm here to tell it because he's not one to ask for help or want pity for his circumstances. I'm now paying it forward too! Chapter One: When Larry was 18 years old, he lived for sports, with water skiing and jet skiing high on his list of faves. While pursuing those activities, he dove headlong into deceptively shallow water, hit a sand bar -- and was pulled out with a broken neck, paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors couldn't tell Lombardi whether or not the damage was permanent. Only time would tell, they said -- and it did. Within three months, Larry started walking again, and eventually recovered "nearly 100 percent." At the hospital, right before he finally got up between the parallel bars and walked, the therapist told him not to even try, that he wasn't ready. He proved them wrong, but that therapist would not be the last person on earth to underestimate Larry. Chapter Two: In 1985, Larry was a 25-year-old husband in a "troubled," soon-to-end marriage when an altercation with some acquaintances ended with what the local police ruled to be an "accidental" gunshot that put a bullet in his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. His first thought was, "hey, I've beat this before, I'm gonna beat it again." He hung onto that attitude, along with a good dose of flat-out denial, for three years. Unfortunately, his situation was permanent. And his situation certainly didn't stop him from pursuing his athletic passions. Soon, he was playing wheelchair basketball and hockey, and even snow skiing. Chapter Three: By 1997, Larry had just graduated from a Southern California community college with big plans to become a nutritionist. On that day, he participated in the L.A. Marathon -- where he clocked 26.2 wheelchair miles in three hours and eight minutes, coming in 79th out of 106 runners and wheelers. "I was in the peak condition of my life," he says. Three days later, as he attempted to cross a street during one of his workouts, he saw a car heading toward the intersection. He made eye contact with the passenger, and assumed that the driver saw him as well. She didn't. She hit him and sent him flying about eight or nine feet. When he was laying there in the street, he thought, 'I'll just lay here another minute and shake this off.'" He didn't. Larry suffered a number of injuries, but the most terrifying was symptomized by the loss of all upper-body sensation--again. He went straight back into denial. He started from scratch, just as he'd done before, with exercise and therapy ... but this time he got no results. I couldn't beat it. However, modern medicine could. During a dramatic surgical procedure, doctors removed three laminates (thin tissues between the vertebrae) from his spine, which allowed blood to flow back down his spinal column -- and, within three or four months, restored upper-body sensation. Chapter Four: Larry’s never-ending stream of "challenges," as he calls them, did not come to an end with his move to the Arizona. One day, he accidentally locked himself out of his house. While attempting to climb in a window, he got "hung up" in his wheelchair, fell and broke his left leg in two places. Fortunately, the damage was repaired with metal rods and pins, and Larry's recovery period was the shortest he's ever experienced. Question: What would you have done? Given up? Not Larry. He says that what kept him going was the hope that there was woman, a soul-mate and life partner who would love him for who he is and see beyond the chair. That all the pain and suffering was only a part of something good in this world. I, Karin Murphy, found my soulmate and friend in Larry too. He inspires me everyday and helps me to not sweat the small stuff. Thanks for taking the time to read this and if this story inspires you, please pass it forward!