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I had sat there on the bridge at the end of our dead end road about 30 minutes when some friends I knew came driving by, who were off work for the Holiday, and I heard what's up Jeff, not much, I just woke up, I'm kind of tired, and Spence hollered hey man, lets go swimming. That sounded OK with me, on a hot sunny day with really nothing better to do, so I crawled in the back seat and off we went to Big Rock, our swimming hole in the Nolichucky River, just a few miles away, and we did swing by and pick up a case of cold bud. Well that case of cold beer was almost gone by the time we got to Big Rock, between 3 drinking men a case don't last along time, and we was all feeling good rocking on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" tunes, that was my favorite band of all time, (still is really) ya have to love "Free Bird". We have arrived, and us ole' boys crawled out of the old frame we were riding in and grabbed our cold beer and headed down the steep trail that leads down to the river.

It being memorial day, (and it was) there was a lot of party's going on down at the swimming hole. We found us a nice little spot right in the middle of the whole bunch, we knew almost ever one there, or had saw them there before. It had been sort of a dry spring that year, the river was low, but not that much and every body was swimming and basking in the hot sun. I looked over at the Big Rock and there was a bunch of guys up there jumping and diving off, so I told Spence and Mark to come on up with me to the top of Big Rock. It is a "Big Rock" and you have to climb to get upon top, so we climbed to the top and took a look around. The guys that were already up there before us had what looked like a tub full of ice and beer, and they told us to grab a beer, and we did grab 1 or 2, and drank them right down.

I was feeling good, but I wasn't close to being drunk, I don't think any of us was drunk yet, us ole' country boys could put away a lot of beer and not be drunk at all. I stepped out to the edge of the rock and looked down, nothing new to me. I had been swimming at that same place my entire life, I ask a guy where the deepest spot was and he pointed it out to me, he said look where I go in and he dove off. He came up out of the water and said, this is the deepest spot, so I eased slowly out to the edge of the rock looked at that place the other guy had just dove off, and took my dive down in the spot, seemed to me it was probably 8 to 10 feet deep, it was a good dive and I hit the spot prefect. Well, I climbed back upon the rock and grabbed a beer and sat down and talked with the guys for awhile.

Then after awhile I decided to dive off again, so I stepped out to the edge of the Rock again and looked down. I took a big leap and dove off, I hit the water in a shallow area and went straight to the sandy bottom. I felt my hands hit first, then I felt the top of my head hit the bottom, not knowing what had happened. I knew I had hit the sandy bottom, but wasn't aware that anything was wrong, until I had held my breath as long as I could and was still under the water. At the very second I could know longer hold my breath, a guy in the water flipped me over on my back, and I caught my breath. I knew something was wrong but not really what it was, a couple of other guys came over and ask if I was alright, I said NO get me to the bank. So they pulled me through the water over to the sandy river bank, and some guy said get up, I tried to, but only my head moved. I knew then something bad was wrong. My friend Paul said, why aren't you moving, I looked at my arms and hands, tried to move them but I couldn't. Then Paul said, your peeing on yourself Jeff, I didn't know I was nor could I feel it, so I told them to call 911.

It seemed forever for the rescue squad to get there, I finally heard the sirens coming in the distance, and I also noticed it was getting hard for me to breath. When they came to where I lay, they asked me what had happened, I told them I dove off the rock and hit my head on the bottom. So they ask some of the guys standing around me to help them roll me on to the stretcher, and that they needed their help to get me up the steep trail that goes up and out of there. So I arrived at the Johnson City Medical Center about 1 hours after we left the big rock. My parents were already there and waiting for me, Dad was the first to see me as they unloaded me. I told him, "I did it again Dad"., not really knowing at all what I'd actually done. Mom and Dad both started asking me questions, son what's wrong, I told them..I don't know, I cant feel anything or move. I could see the worry in both their faces. It was really getting hard for me to breath, Truly..I thought I was about to die right there at anytime. I was raised in Church my entire life and I knew if I did die, I was headed for a Christ-less Hell. At that time my Dad was a Deacon in our Church, and I told him I wanted to be saved NOW!!!

So my Dad and I prayed the sinners prayer, and I ask God to forgive me for all my sins and many failures in Jesus name, & Praise God He DID! All of a sudden my breathing got easier, I wasn't scared anymore, because I knew then if I died I was going to Heaven. The days passed by, I was put on a ventilator, and kept it for 4 months. My neck had been broken, C-4/5..a fracture and dislocation. Days were hard on me and my family, and lots of prayers were prayed. I caught pneumonia 3 different times, had a feeding tube put in my stomach, which caused me to catch peritonitis and lots of swelling in my abdomen, and also many UTI's while there. After four months of hell I was released from the medical center and headed for home. I was at home several months and went to TRC..(Tennessee Rehab Center)..in Smyrna TN. I stayed there 2 months or so, fitted with my first power chair, learned about Spinal Cord Injury, and how to cope with ever day life. I met a lot of folks just like me, some worse & some not as bad.

Now 19 years post injury, so much has changed in my life, but I still have Christ #1. in my daily life, and the best family on earth!! I have learned many new things about myself that I didn't know about me, some good & some not so good. But seems to me if I just live 1 day at a time, things aren't that bad..as I watch years go by in a power chair, I think a lot about how my life may have went without the injury/accident, but it's something I cant imagine or see clearly. All in all life consist of choices, & I think it's the choices that we make of our own selves that are what we and those around us have to live with...clearly life is made of our choices! !