A Story of Amazing Determination

            I want to thank my son-in-law, J.C. for bringing the following article about a young man who has a heroic sense of stamina and determination, and to thank Sylas Wright for writing such a inspiring story about a truly amazing man! I have taken the liberty to shorten the article; the entire story can be found on J.C.’s Facebook.

MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: GRANT KORGAN – POSITIVELY CHARGED

By Sylas Wright

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Grant Korgan could whip his former self in an arm-wrestling match.

            “Yeah,” he said with a good-natured chuckle, “my guns are bigger than they were before.”

            The 2010 snowmobile accident that left Korgan paralyzed from the waist down clearly did not dampen his sense of humor. If anything, it may only have enhanced it, just the same as his super-positive, glass-half-full disposition.

            In fact, as those who know the man will attest, there may not be a more positive soul on the planet.

            “Grant has the most positive, infectious vibe to him. It's almost like when you see Grant, you are coming into experiencing royalty. He's emanating all this positive energy. You can instantly feel it,” said Truckee's Roy Tuscany, whose own spinal cord injury — and recovery — inspired him to create the High Fives Non-Profit Foundation to help support injured winter athletes.

            “He's slowly turning into this ginormous ball of positivity. You just get near him and it's like, ‘life is so good — every day.' It's amazing. I can't even explain it.”

‘Beyond grateful'

            Korgan has that kind of effect on people. It's part of the reason the 34-year-old Incline Village native has received such an outpouring of support — charity from High Fives to Spine Nevada to complete strangers who are touched by his story.

            With that support, a resolute Korgan has achieved checklists of ambitious goals, including regaining feeling down to his kneecaps thanks to a rigorous workout regimen, and walking again with the assistance of arm crutches. This past winter, he executed a 12-day traverse 75 miles across Antarctica to the South Pole on the 100-year anniversary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition — pushing a sit-ski across Velcro-like snow in brutally cold conditions.

            “I'm beyond grateful. My gratitude is through the roof,” Korgan said from Kauai, where he was preparing to compete in a tandem surf-ski race from one island to another. “Both High Fives and Spine Nevada down in Reno are two amazing groups of people. They have enabled and powered my workouts. I can't even put words to the amount of love, light and humanity that people have given to me. It's absolutely beautiful.”

            Korgan explained that, while he “evolves” with every passing day and becomes more aware of his consciousness, it was his mountain lifestyle that instilled in him a sense of positivity from a young age.

            “I grew up in Incline Village, so I had this amazing upbringing,” he said. “I got to live in this recreational paradise, and I was always so grateful for it. The glass was always half full, and I was always so stoked no matter what was happening.”

Life throws a curve

            Everything changed on March 5, 2010.

            Korgan was filming with Alpine Assassins in the Sonora Pass backcountry when he overshot the landing of a jump, violently shattering his first lumbar vertebrae upon impact more than 100 feet from the takeoff.

            Korgan was rushed to the intensive care unit, where he spent nine days. He then spent a full month in a rehab hospital. With his wife Shawna as his personal trainer he underwent multiple forms of recovery. Slowly but surely, the hard work paid off as Korgan regained feeling in his upper legs, then to his kneecaps. He began using hand crutches to get around. And he began dreaming bigger dreams.

            In the summer of 2011, Korgan brewed up plans as part of his active recovery along with Truckee's Doug Stoup, who's recognized as the world's most well-versed polar explorer, and helicopter ski guide Tal Fletcher for an expedition to the geographic South Pole. A date was set for Jan. 17, 2012 — the 100-year anniversary of the first successful expedition to the southernmost point.

            Backed financially by High Fives, Korgan and crew set out to accomplish a series of smaller adventures in preparation for “The Push,” from Alaska to Patagonia and back to Lake Tahoe, where Korgan and a fellow adaptive athlete paddled kayaks 50 miles around the lake in four days.

Choosing a path of positivity

            Amid all the adventure and recovery, Korgan has work to do.

            He recently completed a book called “Two Feet Back,” which chronicles his accident and recovery process leading up to the South Pole expedition. And he has already outlined a second book detailing “The Push.”

            “Who knows? Maybe there will be a book three,” he said.

Aside from writing and promoting on book tours, Korgan travels to public speaking engagements to share his story. He focuses his talks on the power of positivity.

            “Every day we're choosing recovery, and every day we're manifesting more healing,” he said. “And I believe in my heart that no matter how long it takes, I will get to 100 percent recovery. My goal is 120 percent recovery. I want to be stronger than I was, and I believe I will make it.”

            Who's going to doubt him?

            “If anybody is going to do it, Grant Korgan is going to do it!”