I read last night from a post Professional Bull Fighter Jesse Byrne put on Facebook that Curtis Anderson was in the running to be one of UFA’s Small Town Heroes. If there’s anyone that deserves to win such a competition it’s Curtis. I don’t think he’s just a small town Hero I think its pretty much a Canadian Hero, and absolutely one of Canadian Rodeo’s biggest heros.
To vote for Curtis in the UFA contest click on the link below!
http://www.ufa.com/smalltownheroes/detailedNominee.html#param.wapp?id=68
To visit Curtis’ personal website check out this link.
If you haven’t been able to meet Curtis yet or don’t know his story read this story he wrote below. It can be found also at his website on the “About Me” page. Look for more of his work to be found here in the future. Curtis is also a motivational speaker to book him contact him through his website. He’s always looking to help someone else out.
Curtis Anderson: -This is my story of my journey on Brain Injury Recovery and Awareness.
“One Day At A Time” was my graduation theme and I have kept that theme on my road to recovery. June 26, 2002 will be a day that I will always remember. On that day, I was competing in the bull-riding at the Ponoka Stampede. While riding, I lost my balance and was struck in the head twice by the bull’s head. I was rushed to the University of Alberta Hospital, where I would spend three weeks in a drug-induced coma. Shunts were inserted into my brain to control the swelling of the brain. From there, I was sent to the Glenrose Hospital where I started all over again.
It would take two nurses to get me out of bed. They would push my wheelchair to physical and occupational therapy. I rode that wheelchair for three months touching a balloon back and forth for balance.
While in the wheelchair I started walking with a quad cane and then a single cane with a physiotherapist walking alongside me teaching me how to walk step by step. I progressed to walking on my own, wearing a helmet in case of a fall. It took a year from the two nurses getting me out of bed to where I was eventually walking on my own with no assistance.
I was soon walking a mile a day, getting in good shape to aid my recovery.
In the beginning, I was unable to move my left hand. In therapy, I would toss bean bags from the edge of a table to a pail, while trying to keep my balance; now I can carry a pail of grain in each hand weighing 30 pounds a piece.
Everytime my Uncle Les Anderson would visit I would squeeze his hand testing the strength I was getting back.
I recieved Botox shots for the past seven years helping the fine motor control of my hand. In October, I was transfered to the Halvar Jonson Centre for Brain Injury in Ponoka. While there I learned to swim again, starting out with a life jacket and a life guard watching over me. With hours of getting the most movement and functional use out of my hand. I spend a half an hour on my balance. While doing this, I listen to the music of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Waylon Jennings. Johnny Cash said it best, “I have mountains to climb and I always will.”
The mountains I have climbed in my recovery have taught me that what you put in is what you get out. When your back is against the wall, you raise the bar of excellence while believeing in yourself, family, friends, angels and GOD.
There is no reason to feel sorry for yourself, you just have to “Cowboy Up and Keep On Keepin On.” Just when you think you are in bad shape, have a walk around a Brain Injury Centre, see happy survivors and how proud they are of themselves.
There are not enough words, phrases or qoutes to express the thanks I owe to my parents.
Regarding my speech, I learned to talk over again, putting vowels into words and words into sentences. I have now written two songs and a multitude of poems. My penmanship has come along way, for awhile, only I could read it and it is now legible.
I started fluids such as ice chips, thickened water and then the real stuff. I started eating pureed foods, then diced food chopped up into little pieces. I am now able to cut my own steak.
Johnny Cash also said, “Walk that second mile, turn a frown with a smile and give more than you take.”
There are steps that I follow every day:
Proper rest, diet and exercise.
As John Wayne said “Fight a Good Fight, Live One Day At A Time and Make Each Day Count.”
Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but making the most of the cards.
An old cowboy once said “If it’s not true do not say it.”
Here are some quotes that heroes and friends of mine have said that have helped me along the way.
Lane Frost said “It is just as easy to make someone smile as it is to make them mad.”
Kelly Armstrong said “I may not ride bulls forever, but I will be a cowboy forever.”
Chris Ledoux said “Each step that I take isn’t worth the ground I walk on if I don’t walk it on my own way.”
Merle Haggard hit the nail on the head by saying “Hold my head up and be proud of who I am”
Shakespeare and Elvis Presley said “The world is a stage and we all play a part.”
Do your best everyday and then better the next day. To everybody the best way to heal is from the inside out. People may not remember what you said or did but they will remember how you made them feel.
I learned to transfer from a wheelchair to a vehicle I have now regained my drivers license.
Curtis Anderson
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