Project Walk With Barney Miller. Story by Jay “Bottle” Thompson October 18, 2011 – Tags: , ,

Hey World, Hope you are all smiling, if not well snap out of it because life’s too short. So a few weeks ago I had an amazing experience that open my eyes and put life back in perspective for me. This single hour touched my heart and I wish to share it with you all. Barney Miller, a good friend of mine for the past 5-6 years. Was in a horrific car accident about 12 years ago, he is now a quadriplegic and in a wheel chair. He was also told that he would never breath without the assistance of a machine, never to use his right arm and ultimately never to be able to walk again. Before the accident Barney was a keen beach goer and loved his surfing just like the rest of us. He still has so much passion for the ocean and surfing to this day, even to the point where he travels the globe just to watch the World Tour surfers battle it out to win a world title. This year when the World Tour Surfing event was held at Trestles Beach here in California, Barney got to take part in an exhibition session for 30 minutes before the Final. Surfers such as Mick fanning, Shane Beschen, Kelohe Andino were among others helping Barney out by pushing him into some perfect little 3 foot peaks. You couldn’t wipe the smile of Barney’s face for days. A few days later myself and Andrew King (Red bulls high Performance coach) decided to join Barney in one of his rehabilitation training sessions, in the hope that one-day he will recover from his spinal injury and will walk again. The name of the training facility is “Project Walk” Project walk is a non- profit organization that strives to provide an improved quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries through intense exercise-based recovery programs, education, support and encouragement. Tammy and Ted Darzinski founded the organization in 1999. Both who specialized in functional and postural training, till one day they were introduced to a client that was told he will never walk again. They made it their mission to get this man back on his feet, to this day that man is walking on his own two feet. So that from that point on Project walk was created. I was instantly humbled as I walked through the door. People of all ages training harder than anything I have ever witnessed. The determination in their eyes was almost frightening. I caught Barney half way through his training session, as I approached him, he was standing on his own to feet, my throat swelled up like had a dinosaur in it and my eyes couldn’t help themselves and threw out a few salty tears. This was the first time I had seen Barney standing on his own two feet since I met him. He didn’t even acknowledge me, as he was so eager, focus and determined to finish his exercise before he greeted me. He said a quick “g’day Bottle” and it was back to business. There was no messing around he was on a mission like everyone else in that facility. On top of that the place reeks of encouragement, people are hooting when they overcome milestones, there are motivational sayings on the walls and just an all round positive aura. I have trained hard my whole life but when I took a good look around I was barley scratching the surface compared to these people. Barney trains 4-5 times per week, 3-5 hours per session and puts 110% into every minute of it. It was just so humbling to be amongst these human beings striving towards the simplest thing that we take for granted everyday. It just puts life back into perspective and how the simple things in life are often the best. I am so stoked that I got witness that life changing experience and I encourage people to keep reminding themselves how lucky they are and don’t take life for granted, enjoy the simple things like being able to walk downstairs and empty the trash out for mum, or having to take the dog for a stroll down the park. Jay “Bottle” Thompson Project Walk is a Non-Profit organization and is always looking for any donations big or small, it all helps so if anyone out there could spare a few bucks please follow the link below. http://www.projectwalk.org/make-a-gift/