Four Decades of Living the Quad Life

Through his Word, God shows that he has a plan for each person’s life. For some, their life includes extra opportunities to showcase God’s care for his people.

In 1985, I was a typical 3-year-old boy living in Iowa. I played with toy trucks and tractors and didn’t like the word “nap.”

On Feb. 20, my parents and I were on a normal trip from our home in Pella to the state capital of Des Moines, 40 miles away. It was rainy, and just as we entered a four-lane road, an oncoming semi passed us. The wind from the large truck caused our car to cross into the opposite lane, where we were hit by an oncoming semi. My lap belt caught me, but the jolt propelled my upper body forward and bruised my spinal cord between the second and third vertebrae in my neck.

Instantly, I was unable to feel or control anything below my shoulders or even breathe on my own. God’s plan for my life was already on display as another driver with emergency medical training came on the scene and provided me air until paramedics arrived.

At that time, it was presumed that a child with quadriplegia would live in a care facility and not be in a regular classroom. There was concern I would get sick around other kids and always be in and out of the hospital. However, my parents believed God had a different plan for my life, and they worked to make it possible for me to return home with them. Because I used a ventilator to breathe, I would require 24-hour care. Thankfully, the health insurance my dad had through his employer covered nursing care.

Almost seven months after our accident, all three of us went home to start a new life. It has now been 40 years since life changed that day. It hasn’t been easy, but God has always provided.

I attended Pella Christian Schools from kindergarten through my high school graduation in 2000. The doctors’ predictions of constant illness did not come true, and I was able to stay with my class throughout school. With much prayer, planning, and work, I also went to college. I lived in my own dorm room and earned an associate’s degree in information technology.

After numerous interviews and two temporary jobs, I returned to live full time with my parents eight months after college graduation. I started my own business in web development.

Early the next year, in 2004, I spoke to my first class of second-graders about how God uses different abilities for his kingdom. Twenty years later, I still talk at grade schools—and colleges too. Teaching young people about God’s world led to becoming active in evangelism and getting a license to exhort, or substitute preach, in 2017. I teach that being unable to move or breathe independently doesn’t mean you can’t be busy.

The first sermon I preached answered a common question that even Christians have: How can there be a loving God with situations like mine? Through no fault of my own, I have lived with a significant disability that makes a “normal” life impossible.

In Genesis 1:31, God looked at all creation and declared it to be very good. We see some remnants of this beauty today, but much more that isn’t good. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This act of rebellion brought the curse of sin into all creation. This is why we now experience disease, dandruff, disability, and death. Everyone has inherited the sin nature (Rom. 5:12).

If we take an honest look at the Ten Commandments and judge our own lives, we should agree with Jesus in Mark 10:18 that no one is good except God alone. Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), no good person has ever received a disability or bad diagnosis.[1] Thankfully, we have not been left as orphans and can receive God’s free gift of salvation. No matter what abilities we have been given, all who truly repent of sin and trust in Christ alone for salvation will be saved.

Sometimes it can take a life-altering event or hearing a different perspective to realize the blessings we have. I sometimes take my vision and hearing for granted, but I remember to give thanks when meeting someone with impairments in either. Every four seconds, my diaphragm receives an electrical stimulation that makes me breathe—a good reminder to give thanks for air.

In 1985, my parents were told I likely would not live past 10 years old. Over the decades, I have seen the life expectancy for quadriplegics increase, but I have always already outlived them. Living 40 years as a vent-dependent quadriplegic is rare, and several of my friends have died within fewer years than I’ve been given. God has blessed me with a relatively long life, but each year reminds me of Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Over time, nursing care has become harder to find and challenges of age increase. Just when my parents and I wonder how long I can stay at home, God provides the help we need. This became especially clear as I looked back on my life and wrote my autobiography, The Quad Life, in 2023.

No matter where God has placed you, look for God’s blessings in any form. As Christianity and church attendance are decreasing in many places, we must use our blessings to share the good news of salvation with all. Let us do this with this assurance from Jesus: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).