A man’s life was changed forever when an impromptu trip to the beach left him paralyzed and face down in the ocean, fearing he might drown.
After turning 19 years old, Cruise Bogle returned home to Delray Beach, Florida, following his first semester at college. Sadly, one of his friends had passed away, so while he was home for winter break, he attended the funeral service. Shortly after, Bogle and a bunch of others left the funeral to go to the beach where they wanted to reminisce about their late friend.
One person had taken their skimboard, so while they were at the beach, they decided to test it out. Bogle, now 35, took it into the water, but he had no idea that disaster was about to strike.
He told Newsweek that he fell off the board and “hit the back of [his] head” on the sand, shattering his C4 vertebrae. He was immediately paralyzed from the neck down, leaving him lying face down in the water, completely motionless.
“I was knocked unconscious for a moment, and then I woke up face down in the water, unable to move,” Bogle said. “I definitely knew something was wrong, and my first thought was that I was about to drown and die.
“As I was lying face down in the water and unable to move, I thought that I was going to join my late friend whose funeral I’d just attended, and that this was it for me.”
Bogle lay in the ocean, coming to terms with the idea of the idea of this being his final moment when a wave came in and flipped him over. Once he was on his back, Bogle was able to take in a sharp breath which snapped him “back into reality of fear and disbelief.”
Upon being shocked back into life, Bogle drifted back towards the beach when another wave hit. His friends immediately realized how serious the situation was, and they dragged Bogle back to safety, also calling the emergency services.
Although his memories are hazy, Bogle vividly recalls the moment his friend looked at him with “this horrified look” on his face. While being placed on a stretcher and put in an ambulance, Bogle kept frantically repeating, “I don’t want to be paralyzed.”
Bogle was taken to Delray Medical Center where he underwent an eight-hour spinal fusion surgery. His C3 vertebrae was fused to his C5 with a titanium cage and four pins and the shattered C4 vertebrae was removed.
“I also received a tracheotomy and was put on a ventilator to keep me stable,” Bogle said. “I was told the extent of my injuries within the first week or two, but I was extremely out of it due to the trauma and drugs I was on, so I don’t exactly remember when or how I was told, or how I reacted.”
For more than two weeks, Bogle remained at the Delray Medical Center before being flown to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He continued his recovery there for over two months, learning everything he needed to know about his “new life.” He and his family had to learn how to take care of him and how to live a full life still, despite becoming quadriplegic.
Accepting that this was now going to be his life was difficult for Bogle, who told Newsweek that he “was in denial” for many years after the incident. He remained optimistic and hopeful that he would walk again one day, determined to overcome the paralysis.
“After a handful of years, it became clear that that was not actually the reality of my situation,” he said.
It’s now been 17 years since he became paralyzed, and Bogle has learned to appreciate his life so much more. He is grateful for the little things that actually carry meaning, rather than material items or possessions.
Around a decade after the skimboarding incident, Bogle put more of his energy into mouth painting. It was an activity he’d done while at the Shepherd Center, but when he grabbed a brush again, it gave him a new lease of life.
He has also started a nonprofit organization, The Cruisey Baby Initiative, aiming to increase the quality of life of those living with a spinal cord injury.
Bogle has started documenting his experiences on social media (@cruiseybabbby on TikTok), as he hopes to raise awareness and give hope to others. There are countless misconceptions about people with disabilities, but Bogle wants to show just how fulfilling life still can be.
Many of his videos have gone viral, with a clip detailing the accident generating over 6 million views and 320,800 likes on TikTok so far.
“I want to show that we are just regular people wanting to live as normal a life as possible, feel love, be successful, find happiness, and peace,” Bogle said.
“The care and support I have received from family, friends and community is the only reason that I am who I am today. There are so many people in my situation that don’t have the care, support, insurance, and quality of life that I do, and I am extremely grateful,” he said.
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