A 3 year old, stricken with a ruptured brain aneurysm and a stroke, survives the cerebral hemorrhage. Doctors have no idea if he’ll walk or even live. His right side is permanently stroke-effected, causing streaming nerve damage across half of his entire body. That was me in 1988, and my resulting physical and neurological disabilities have never gone away. I refused to let it stop me from being scouted as a pitcher by four Major League Baseball teams or graduating college with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. In fact, it drove me to run and complete five marathons. I qualified for Boston. Not only did I run the Boston Marathon, I am the 2008 mobility-impaired champion. I ran alongside Olympians Ryan Hall and Robert Cheruiyot in the 2010 marathon amidst defending my title. In my life, I have striven to be normal and, in doing so, I have become extraordinary. My unremitting battle to overcome unfair, malicious discrimination intensified my desire to get myself right here. My health was a bleak question mark and I stand each day further into unprecedented, uncharted territory. CNN, The Washington Post and countless local news stations have repeatedly highlighted my story.
At 94,500 words, An Uncharted Life describes this battle with sensations and experiences that everyone who does not live with my disability has felt in their life. So many people get absorbed with telling you about the things they have done that they forget to tell you why or how. So, why do I wake up at 4:30 AM every day? How do I leg press 900 pounds properly despite my stroke-effected right leg? How did I get four pro scouts to consider me when all I did was pitch in my backyard? Why didn’t I give up when I was discriminated against for 11 years, when my dad was the only one who believed in me? Those answers create and propel this story, and explaining these events impacts everybody’s life because, although stories are great, the determination behind the story makes the difference.
Point blank, I’m a miracle. Having a miracle story is one thing, but relating that story to others in a way that impacts their lives is meaningful. This book is more than just a memoir. It’s a character study that analyzes how mental motivators and barriers (memories, doubt), social behavior (verbal/non-verbal cues and gestures), internal and external motivation, family, health, discrimination, fate and faith not only influence how we perceive everything that happens in life, but in essence dictates how we are perceived by others. The theme is love, both ends of it, and how being embraced or rejected impacts the life we live and create. My life is merely the portal that I analyze these developments and realizations through, analyzing my life from third person perspectives in order to relate my experiences in a universal way.
I’m not better than anyone else; I am simply better than I ever imagined I would be because of my family. Because of them I am a marathoner, life coach, certified personal trainer, martial artist and, most importantly, survivor. I’m not perfect, but they have made me more than anyone thought I would become. With you, An Uncharted Life will make me a national speaker and source of inspiration for everyone. Everything that has transformed my life, and can help others in their own lives, is here. This is my uncharted life and this book will help others make it their own too. I’ve been lifted to these unprecedented levels and a paralleled effort with this book will create the same result for everyone else. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we react the way we do? This book is the catalyst that will help everyone discover their own uncharted potential and begin living it instead of fearing it.
Healthfully and regards,
Greg
