For my last neuro note, I decided to write about the movie, Walk. Ride. Rodeo. I chose this movie because I heard some friends talking about it, so I got on Netflix to see what the buzz was all about. When I found out that it was a movie about a girl with a spinal cord injury, my OT mind became super excited and intrigued to learn about her story.
This movie is based on the true story of Amberley Snyder. Before her accident, Amberley had already won a world championship for barrel racing and was on her way to becoming a pro. She ate, slept, and breathed rodeo, and it was her dream to become the best in the world. On January 10, 2010 though, 18 year old Amberley was in a near fatal car accident that changed her life forever. She was thrown from her truck's window and hit a fence post, completely shattering her T12 vertebrae, causing her to become paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Amberley soon started rehab with a physical therapist after her accident to begin recovery. When asked what her top goals were for herself, she said, "Walk, ride, and rodeo." The first things she did in PT were working on rebuilding her upper body strength, balance, and how to use her wheelchair. To work on rebuilding her balance, she recommended bringing her saddle in with her to therapy, and was sitting up on it a brief 4 months later. Even though Amberley worked hard and wanted to get better most days, she did experience some hardships and setbacks that came with her injury. With any person that experiences a life-changing spinal cord injury, it can be tough to be optimistic about a life bound to a wheelchair. Even after getting back onto her horse after her injury, Amberley was disappointed and upset that the ride didn't feel the same as it used to, and she even wanted to sell her horses and give up. Her parents wouldn't let her give up though, and they push her to stay positive and choose to keep working hard to achieve her dreams. Because of this, Amberley was in her first racing competition a mere 18 months after her life-changing accident. She definitely had to make adaptations to get on her horse again though. She had a personal, adaptive saddle made just for her with a built in seatbelt and leg straps so she would stay secure on her horse. Another adaptation she had to make was to re-teach her horse the commands they needed to do to complete a barrel run. Using your legs are very important in barrel racing, but it was no problem to teach her horse how to know what she was asking him to do by using her hands and verbal commands/sounds. As she became better and started doing more competitions, all of the riding and sitting without proper positioning and re-positioning almost took her life. On Christmas Eve of 2011, Amberley was rushed to the hospital with a severe pressure sore infection and a temperature of 104 degrees that almost killed her. She recovered from surgery and began taking better care of herself to prevent that or other injuries from happening ever again. Amberley soon became a huge celebrity in the rodeo world, and in 2015, she was voted as the fan exemption to compete at RFD-TV's The American rodeo competition, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious rodeo competitions in the world, where she placed 19th against some of the best riders in rodeo. Amberley defied all kinds of odds that life threw her way, and today she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a professional barrel racer and even works as a rodeo coach and motivational speaker. She has achieved two of her main goals that she set in therapy of riding and rodeoing, and she is working very hard to achieve her other goal to walk again. She has regained the use of some of her inside calf muscles, is working on using her gluteal muscles to move her legs, and has even recovered some sensation in the upper half of her legs. Amberley is a fighter, so we just may see her walk again. I hope to continue following her amazing journey.
I absolutely loved this movie, even though it made me cry multiple times. It was an amazing story of a girl who never gave up on her goals and dreams. She never let anything or anyone stop her from living her life how she wanted or from doing the thing she loved to do most. One of the biggest take-aways I got from watching this movie was how important a strong support system can be to a person with a spinal cord injury. When Amberley wanted to quit, her family, nurse, and PT never let her give up and pushed her even though it hurt at times because they knew what she was capable of. Amberley was blessed with a loving family to push her and be there for her during her recovery, but it was a reminder to me that every client I have one day may not have that same kind of support system at home. I want to always remember to be there for my clients and be that support that they need to achieve their goals, because I may be all that they've got. Another thing that this movie taught me is that no goal is ever too crazy to achieve. While watching the movie, after Amberley had her accident and made goals to compete at barrel racing again, I thought that there was no way she'd get back on a horse again, let alone racing! I was totally proven wrong and was given a sense of hope and faith that I will be able to give to my clients in the future. No matter what I or anyone else thinks, anybody can achieve something that they set their minds to. I can't wait to see my client's one day achieve the unachievable. It will make me that happiest person/OT in the world to watch them achieve happiness, independence, and meaning in their lives no matter the limitations that this world may try to give them. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good uplifting and inspiring story!
References:
Locke, S. (Actor). Allyn, C. (Director). (2019). Walk. Ride. Rodeo [Online video]. Netflix. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/watch/80995799trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C1%2Cddcca70f7158
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Shaw-Williams, H. (2019, March 8). Walk. Ride. Rodeo. True Story: What the Netflix Movie Changed. In Screen Rant. Retrieved from https://screenrant.com/walk-ride-rodeo-true-story-netflix-movie-changes/
Photo retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=amberley+snyder&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ah
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