A spinal cord injury is one of the most devastating events that can happen to a person; taking not only their ability to walk, but also their independence and ability to accomplish some of life’s most fundamental tasks. Imagine in an instant losing the ability to feed yourself, or not being able to get dressed on your own, or even simply not being able to itch your nose. The effects of this injury are indeed catastrophic, not only to the person injured but to the families and loved ones in their lives as well. Also, this injury does not discriminate and can tragically take anyone of any age, race, or gender. In an instance lives and futures are shattered and thrown upside down in ways that one cannot begin to imagine. Once the initial shock of this injury wears off, the reality begins to set in. The lifetime cost of this injury easily reaches millions of dollars and additionally predisposes one too many other problems and illness.

Journey Forward is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of those who have suffered a Spinal Cord Injury through an intense exercise program. Exercise is important to everyone and even more so to those who have suffered a Spinal Cord Injury. An average able bodied person can walk around throughout the day; and that simple task of walking puts needed stress on the body to insure proper bone density, muscle growth, and many other bodily functions. When an individual suffers a spinal cord injury and are required to sit in a wheelchair all day, they are no longer able to obtain the benefits that come from the average activities of daily living. Journey Forward is an exercise based program designed to assist those with Spinal Cord Injuries so they too can achieve some of these most basic lifelong functions and benefits.

We work with Spinal Cord Injured clients of all levels and abilities in a very active and full body approach. This is what separates Journey Forward from many other adaptive gyms. Many of the gyms that center on working with individuals with disabilities tend to focus only on the clients abilities and don’t work with the affected areas. We at Journey Forward focus on the clients weaknesses and work on coordinating the entire body in a very functional and complete style. Our clients will work on many different activities including gait training, load bearing, and full body neural stimulation. Working with individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries in this aggressive and functional manner has shown many benefits. We are able to focus on client goals that can range from regaining lost function to simply receiving the normal benefits of exercise. Since this injury forces most to be in a chair for the majority of the day; we want to get them out of their chairs and focus on functional exercises and activities.

Journey Forward is implementing the latest in the advancement of exercise. Traditionally, after the first 6 months of a spinal cord injury people are given little to no hope of increasing their independence. However, we believe that this is not true and given the correct stimulus, some people with this injury can improve and continue to get better. This is where Journey Forward comes in. We offer those with spinal cord injuries an aggressive and effective exercise based program. Our mission is to make this program as accessible to those who need it as possible. We are accomplishing this by working to open centers throughout the country and making it affordable to those who so desperately need this program.

June 24th 2000 was the day that would change Dan Cummings life forever. He and his friends were just hanging out on a lake and Dan decided to go for a swim. He dove into the water and in an instant, Dan opened his eyes under water, unable to move. Fortunately, two of his friends notice something was wrong and pulled Dan out of the lake and onto the shore. Not being able to move or feel his legs, Dan knew what had happened and yelled “call 911!”

Dan was airlifted to Boston Medical Center where he was diagnosed a C6 quadriplegic. He would spend the next 4 weeks in the ICU. Unable to breathe on his own, he was hooked up to a life support system known as a ventilator and the machine breathed for him. Dan’s family asked if he would recover and walk again and in those early moments they were told he may not make it through the night. In addition to his injury, Dan had come down with severe pneumonia and suffered a collapsed left lung leaving his life in serious question. Dan’s family was told to take one day at a time and that he still may not make it. After a few weeks had passed, Dan started to recover and was able to breathe a little on his own. He was going to survive. However the thought of walking again…he may never feed himself again or have any sense of independence.

From that point on, Dan made a promise to himself and anyone that would listen. He promised that he was going to one day walk again. He then went to physical therapy in Boston for the next 3 years. But, something was missing, Dan knew he needed more and knew that if he was going to get back on his feet he needed to find a specialized program. After doing exhaustive research, Dan found a place in Southern California that worked specifically with Spinal Cord Injuries for up to 3 hours per day. After a short visit Dan knew he needed this specialized program and made a commitment to becoming independent enough to move to California. There Dan received the tools and knowledge he needed to get out of his wheelchair. After nearly four years in the program, Dan walked out of their doors. Dan and his family’s commitment had paid off. This left Dan with a new mission: make this program accessible to all of those in need of it. So, he moved back home to Boston and started Journey Forward; which will be opening centers throughout the country, so that those that need this program do not have to move across the country as Dan did.