12/03/2025
๐จ๐ก๐๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐จ
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฏ: Shot, Survived, and Still Rising: The Life of Damon Walker
What happens when everything changes in a single momentโnot just from SCI but from an unexpected kind act of a stranger? Damon Walker was living fast, avoiding reflection, and giving little thought to tomorrowโuntil the gunshot. The sudden spinal cord injury that followed didnโt just take away physical mobility; it demanded emotional honesty, a different kind of strength, and a complete rethinking of self.
In this conversation, Damon opens up about the pressure to remain tough, the guilt he carried, what he wishes he had known before rehab, and the hardest parts no one warns you aboutโsocial isolation, identity loss, and the quiet mental battles that donโt show on the outside. We talk about faith, masculinity, fear, moments of grace, and his process of learning to slow down and listen to life instead of outrunning it.
Damon also shares his thoughts on todayโs generation of newly injured spinal cord survivors, what inspires him about the future of SCI medicine and mobility research, and why hope shouldnโt be seen as naรฏveโฆ but as fuel. At the end of our talk, he tells the full story of the night it all changedโthe gunshot, the Good Samaritan who picked him out of the gutter, the rush to the hospital, and the moment he realized nothing would ever be the same.
