Recover. Rebuild. Reclaim.

After becoming quadriplegic nearly 30 years ago, this athlete had no intention of foregoing an active lifestyle.

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Despite a busy work schedule, Dean Maccabe finds time to spend with his wife Lisa and children, Sydney and Liam.

Heavy breathing, the roar of an excited audience, and adrenaline pumping through your veins—this is what every athlete hears and feels in the heat of competition.

Dean Maccabe lived for this thrill and still does. He was always an athlete—an avid surfer and water-skier. While he was growing up in Orange County, Calif., his thirst for the outdoors and sun was unquenchable. Just like many other young Southern Californians, he continually yearned for the day when temperatures would rise and the sun would shine brighter and longer so he could relax beachside. April 22, 1982, was one of those bright and sunny days, so naturally Maccabe and his friends took off to the beach in hopes of a good time.

As his friends worked on their tans near the shore, Maccabe worked on his diving moves on the side of a familiar cliff. This was not his first attempt at cliff diving. In fact, he had been a member of his high school diving team. He had dived off this cliff many times before, and he knew exactly what measures to take to ensure the dive was safe and smooth. However, a slight misjudgment of the height of the waves caused Maccabe to dive head first into a shallow sandbar. His life changed in an instant.

The moment he hit the sand, a huge shock went through Maccabe’s body and he was unable to move or fully comprehend what had just happened.

“You know what they say about your life flashing before your eyes—it’s true,” says Maccabe.

The trauma resulted in a C6–7 spinal-cord injury that left him partially paralyzed from the chest down. After a few months of rehab at Casa Colina in Pomona, Calif., Maccabe began his steady recovery toward a more independent life.

Check out the complete article in the January 2012 issue of S'NS.

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