It has been thirteen years, but Ryan Gebauer vividly remembers the day life changed for him.
“It was June 19, 1995. I had completed my sophomore year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. We were into the summer and I was in my friend’s backyard, having fun with my friends,” Gebauer said. “I climbed up a tree and jumped down from a 36-foot high branch into a lake. I landed head first, injured my spinal cord, and spent the next six months in hospital.”
The accident left Gebauer paralyzed from the neck down, unable to even turn a page in a book. The teenager who had no intention to pursue college needed to have a change of plans.
“I came home just before Christmas,” recalled Gebauer, now 30. “I did not want to go back to school, but my mother encouraged me. I finished high school and then joined Broward Community College. Until then, I did not think I was college material. A year into BCC, I started focusing more on studies. I was able to see life differently; it wasn’t fun and games anymore.”
Early this month, Gebauer graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a master's degree in business administration. He now thanks the accident for helping him “stay out of trouble”.
These days, Gebauer uses his time to speak to middle and high school students about disabilities and how it is to live with a spinal cord injury. “It is something I really enjoy. I am involved with a couple of city committees. I am also on the County Consumer Protection Board. Mayor Stacy Ritter appointed me. I do a lot of civic stuff for fun.”