Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Lovejoy.
Curtis, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
On November 11, 1986, around 8 am, it was raining and a car emerged onto the expressway in front of me. I hit the breaks and the car hydroplaned. I slammed into the guardrail and blacked out. My car proceeded down the expressway as if I was driving but I was unconscious.
When I woke up I had run directly into an electrical pole. I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t move and I could feel the raindrops doping on my face but not on the rest of my body. There was that was helping me. The guy stayed behind me was trying to keep me alert until the ambulance arrived. Once they arrived they began to describe what they saw. One said “Oh God look at the left wrist. His bone is disconnected from his wrist.” They were talking to me the entire time asking me if I could feel things.
They were able to get a board between me and the seat. One was on the left and one was on the right. They strapped me to the board and took me to Grady Memorial. One said that he could not get the IV in my vein because the driver was going too fast. I said, “Can you please slow the ambulance down!” They found this comical, considering the circumstances. We finally arrived at Grady and I could only see through my purified vision. I was wondering why they were helping me and not all of the people in the waiting room. I began to fade in an out.
One of the things I heard was “We can’t do anything for him because we know nothing about spinal chord injuries.” At the time, I had no idea what that meant. I just know I couldn’t move. My mom came to me and asked me what happened and I told her. By that time my now ex-wife came in and everyone was crying. The ER was beginning to fill up with many people who knew me, even my pastor. I knew something was wrong. They were able to get me in Sheppard Center (which has a waiting list) the same day, around 5 pm.
My body began to swell and started to deteriorate. They had to put 2 screws in my forehead and 2 in the back of my head (halo) to stabilize me. 6 days later the performed an operation. They took a piece bone from my pelvic area and put it in the back of my neck. They twisted to pieces of wires to stabilize my neck. (I came in at 175 pounds… over a period of 5 days I lost 95)
A few days after that I was assigned to a room and doctor. I was around other disabled people at the time. I didn’t know what to think. The word spread quickly around the city of Atlanta after that. After about a week I was put into an electric wheelchair. I could only move two fingers on my right hand. (Had lost sensation, bladder and bowel control, suffered a fractured left wrist and a blow to the head. I was told I would never walk again)I found out that I was quadriplegic.
I had a talk with God. I said “If you don’t heal my body in three days, there is no God,” Three days later I told my mom about this. I was cursing God at the time because the 3 days had passed. My mom told me to repent. I did. I told him I could not do this without him. As soon as I said this I felt later. I began literally looking for him in my room I said “If you give me power, strength, and endurance I will do whatever you want me to do. ”
From then I started rehab. I was in the hospital for 45 days. I was trying to learn every part of my body and know what I could and could not do, I got up enough strength to begin using a manual wheelchair. I began pushing myself around. I became a work(out)-a-holic! I was always in the gym. I would work out so hard that I would collapse. I wasn’t realizing that my body wasn’t strong enough. I wanted to walk so bad, Things were so bad, I was even having marital problems but the only thing I could think about was getting better, As I began to get better the pressure began to build up.
About a month later I was introduced as water for therapy. I was sitting in water on flotation devices. I was so terrified of water. I had to be carried around. I had 1 2 sessions in the water but still had no idea how to swim. I would sit on the third step and just look at the water. One day I went under and began to panic. The lifeguard helped me but I remembered seeing medals going around my neck during the time I was under water.
So I began to ask God, “Are you saying you want me to swim?” I wrestled with this for about 2 days. I consulted my mother and she pushed me to learn to swim. When I got out of Sheppard about 45 days later I began looking for a coach. I found coach Jackson. I spoke to him. He said he had never coached anyone with a disability. but he agreed. We used video cameras to tape my practice. My mindset was to act just like a fish in water. I met a bodybuilder who structured my entire workout routine.
I was still going through other problems. I had lost my job. I was supposed to be back in 90 days. When the manager saw me, He said he did not want me back. One day they tried to put braces on my legs and I refused. I had to have a real talk with myself. That same day, I got up and began walking. Everyone was excited. I told the doctor who told me that I would never walk again that God had other plans for me.
At first, I could only swim backstroke. I always looked at movies and studied swimming and continued to talk to God. After a little over a year, I began to do state swim meets. I began to get good. I broke all state records. After A while I began to break records across America. I began to look into the Paralympics. I think learned Rugby and fencing. I began to take classes at Morris Brown College. People began to question me about being a quadriplegic. I had to tell them my story. I had a hard time with grades at first but I used herbs to pray for mental focus and clarity. After that, everything began to fall into place,
My swimming even got better. I set my first WORLD record in 1995. I got my gold medal. That’s when I knew I could do it. From then on I had started setting my goals. I worked out 6 days a week and swam 4 hours per day. I became obsessed. If anyone told me I couldn’t do something my goal was to prove them wrong. I have been able to win over 700 hundred gold medals.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When we talk about struggles it was getting people to communicate with me. It was trying to understand exactly what they wanted me to do. There were no struggles in swimming it was struggling in having people believe in me but that made me better.
I found that being around elderly people helped me to understand and helped me with some of my experiences. I was called the “N” word when I competed in London in 1997. Instead of reacting I had to really let go and understand that I can never control what anyone says to me or thinks of me. Its all in how I process it and how I use I to keep me going,
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Swimmer story. Tell us more about the business.
I am affectionately known as “Living Legend” to my fellow athletes. I am a Five-Time Paralympian. I am an accomplished competitive swimmer, having represented the United Stated at Paralympic events around the globe. I am the most accomplished and decorated male athletes in Paralympics history for the U.S.A.
I am the first athlete to win gold medals in two non-related sports, swimming and fencing. I am most proud of winning over 700 gold medals in swimming, 200 in fencing, has set 13 world records (Currently still holding 8) and is ranked the number one fencer in the world.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t call it luck, I call it a favor. When you touch peoples lives and nourish people along this journey. favors come back to you. Even if you make a mistake those people don’t see the mistake because they know my character. A lot of athletes are arrogant and that gets you nowhere. There are times that I feel sad because people in the U.S. don’t want to acknowledge greatness but I know my recognition is coming because I have a favor.
Contact Info:
- Website: TheCurtisLovejoy.com
- Phone: 4043168787
- Email: tina@epimediagroup.com
- Facebook: Curtis Lovejoy
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