Help Desk → Success Stories - Living with SCI/D → Stories of Success After SCI/D → Bert Burns /The Blessing of A Spinal Cord Injury
3.2. Bert Burns /The Blessing of A Spinal Cord Injury
When Bert Burns suffered a life-changing injury in his 20s after being thrown from his car during an accident, no one would have blamed him if he decided life as he knew it was over. Facing his future as a quadriplegic, he could have easily viewed the outcome as the end rather than a beginning. Instead, Bert discovered his spinal cord injury to be a blessing in disguise, allowing him to realize dreams that he never would have had before being injured.
After completing rehabilitation, Bert went on to:
· Meet the love of his life, Joy, and raise two beautiful children with her
· Compete as a wheelchair athlete on a global scale for 15 years, winning numerous international events including a gold medal at the 1992 Paralympics
· Create and lead one of the largest urology medical supply companies in the country
· Positively influence hundreds of disabled youth and adults through motivational speaking programs over the last 20 years
Today, Bert is renowned throughout the healthcare field as the founder of UroMed, an industry-leading catheter supply company that assists thousands of people nationwide who face similar circumstances and challenges due to Neurogenic Bladder, Spinal Cord Injury, Spina Bifida or Multiple Sclerosis.
His work now primarily centers around UroMed's non-profit, educational program called Life After Spinal Cord Injury, a motivational program that takes place in rehabilition hospitals and other locations to assist disabled youth and adults who have recently learned they will be using a wheelchair.