DJ's Story

When DJ arrived at Burke Rehabilitation® in August 2023, his life dramatically changed. A diving accident at a friend's bachelor party had left the 29-year-old chemical engineer with a complete C7 spinal cord injury, limiting the use of his hands and legs and casting uncertainty over his future.

But DJ found powerful motivation throughout his rehabilitation journey. "My goal was to get back home to my young son and my wife," he reflects. "I wanted to return to work so that I could continue providing for my family. I wanted to maintain the life that my wife and I had built together—while learning to adapt to a new way of life."

During his two months at Burke, DJ worked intensively with occupational and physical therapists, as well as other members of his care team, to rebuild his independence. He focused on sitting up, making transfers, improving hand function, and strengthening his upper body. One of his greatest challenges was learning to transfer into a car. "In the beginning it was a big hurdle and took a lot of time. But now, it's pretty easy," he says. Today, he drives his own adaptive vehicle will full independence.

For Dr. Shelly Hsieh, Director of the Burke Outpatient Spinal Cord Injury Program and DJ’s physician, he demonstrates what she strives to help all her patients achieve: “a determined optimism and self-belief that allows him to adapt to the changes in his body and continue pursuing the life he wants.”

While at Burke, DJ was moved by the team’s family-centered approach. When his son, Jameson, celebrated his first birthday, DJ worked with the occupational therapy team in the adaptive kitchen to bake cupcakes, and the family celebrated the milestone together in a reserved room downstairs. Since then, DJ has continued developing his cooking skills, even participating in Burke’s first Chopped Challenge last year, where he led a team in preparing jerk chicken using adaptive kitchen equipment and techniques.

Since returning home, DJ and Jameson have created special traditions together. They take daily wheelchair rides around their neighborhood, one of their favorite activities, mow the lawn side by side, and spend time reading, playing, and doing puzzles on the living room floor. "Luckily, I'm still able to do pretty much everything with him," DJ says.

DJ returned to his role as an engineer at RBC Bearings in March 2024, an experience that gave him, as he puts it, “purpose, routine, direction." Beyond financial necessity, resuming work allowed him to reclaim his identity as a provider.

Through Burke's peer mentoring program, DJ connected with another young father from Connecticut who had a similar injury. Early on, his peer offered words of reassurance: “It’s going to be really hard to adapt to life, especially in the first few weeks and months. But little by little, it definitely gets easier.”

That advice has proven true, DJ says, noting the importance of having a support network. "Don't be afraid to lean on people closest to you," he emphasizes. "My son makes it a lot easier to keep trying new things. He'll grow up to be a better person because of it—his dad is in a wheelchair, and he'll understand things that most kids usually don't.”