Bodybuilding while totally disabled - a heart warming story of recovery and resilience
From our good friends at WorkersCompInsider comes this entertaining post on the Massachusetts firefighter/bodybuilder. It's always great to have a hobby. Especially when one is totally disabled.
Yes, the bodybuilding ex-firefighter is out on disability. Total, complete, permanent disability.
One has to respect Mr Arroyo - He could have given up, resigned himself to a life in front of the TV, with little to look forward to but the next day's sports pages. But no, in what can only be described as an uplifting (no pun intended) story of perseverance and a willingness to live life to the fullest, Arroyo entered a bodybuilding contest, and competed, just 6 weeks after he was declared fully disabled.
Adding even more drama to the story, Mr Arroyo's disability was due to an injury to his back suffered when he slipped down some stairs. Unfortunately, no one was there to help him during his time of trouble, or to witness the accident itself.
What's even more incredible/unbelievable/ridiculous is Mr. Arroyo's attorney's statement in response to the recent publicity. Here's what Attorney Neil Osborne said:"Nothing in his specialized training regiment [sic] for the competition contradicts his neurologist's documentation of his injuries." And (this just gets better and better) this was our hero's sixth injury while on the job.
Here's a video of Mr Arroyo - got to love the thong.
Oops, late breaking news from another source - this wasn't a miraculous recovery; it turns out Mr Arroyo has been training for years, has won several body-building contests, and perhaps, just perhaps, his completely-disabling injury is somehow due to his avocation instead of the unwitnessed slip down the stairs.
Just perhaps.