Defying the odds.
A week before Christmas in 2013, Edward Rotella fell asleep in the passenger seat of his father’s car with the family’s new puppy in his lap. He woke up in the hospital with catastrophic injuries.
He told Men’s Health:
“We got T-boned. When I woke up, I knew everything hurt really bad. I put my hands in front of my face, started moving my toes and asked if I was paralyzed. I was really lucky that I wasn’t.”
His C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae were all broken, his back was fractured his back in several places, his right eyeball had deflated, and described his pelvis as broken “in half.” The accident and injuries left Rotella with depression and a form of PTSD.
He went home after a week in the hospital with a neck brace, cadaver bone in his neck, and eye patch. There he was bedridden for six weeks. After that, he had to get back to work, so found a job at an auto parts store.
“I stayed active, I used everything I could around me to exercise. I would pick up rotors and they’re about 25 pounds each. So every time I’d walk back I would use them to exercise.”
He estimated walking around 1,200 steps a day less than a year after the injury.
He then constructed a modest home gym featuring his dad’s Bowflex.
Now, his training includes four weekly Bowflex sessions, each lasting about an hour. His workouts are body part splits, and he reps until fatigue, not failure. Twice daily he continues his practice of walking outdoors, with his new dog.
“She is a German pointer, and she needs to go for long walks and hunt squirrels twice a day.”
Rotella often straps weights on for the walks or stops periodically to do calisthenics. In terms of mental health, exercise and sharing his experience have been invaluable.
“You can’t bottle this stuff up.”
Now at age 30, Rotella is reaching new heights.
“[I’m] definitely stronger than I’ve ever been. I feel that my potential is limitless because I choose it to be. I can’t pursue the MMA anymore, I can’t ride roller coasters anymore, but I can still go and jump off cliffs all summer long.”
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