A letter from an Athlete | Lawrence Green
LETTERS FROM AN ATHLETE IS A SERIES THAT FOCUSES ON SHOWCASING SOME OF OUR ATHLETES, WHO ARE PROUD TO REPRESENT AND BE SUPPORTED BY HIGH FIVES. IT’S ALSO A CHANCE FOR US TO SHOW OFF HOW APPRECIATIVE THE FOUNDATION IS TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THESE INDIVIDUALS AS THEY CHASE DREAMS, COMPLETE GOALS, AND INSPIRE OTHERS.
A Letter From an Athlete
High Fives is honored to be associated with Lawrence Green, seeing Lawrence set goals and put his mind to completing them is nothing less than incredible.
The veteran and texan had an unfortunate Motorcycle crash in Fort Worth, Texas. resulting in a double above knee amputation.
After learning of his new reality, Lawrence took no time to feel sorry for himself, he instead looked forward to the future and how he was going to continue to live life the way that he wanted to.
Lawrence’s charismatic personality and caring demenour continues to draw in people and make them want to be in his presence. Lawrences ability to draw a crowd and take time to listen and care for everyone earned him the nickname of “The Mayor”
A Letter From ” The Mayor”
My name is Lawrence Green.
On March 29th, 2015 I was cruising through Downtown Fort Worth, Texas on my Harley. Suddenly, a vehicle pulled out in front of me. Unable to stop in time, I attempted to go around and that’s when we collided head on. The impact pulled me off the back of my motorcycle, causing me to throttle out and pinball across the road into the curb. I hit a tree separating me from the motorcycle. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital from a medically induced coma on April 28th, 2015. The atrophy was so intense that I was unable to reach my hand to my face. I had no voice from the feeding tube that was put in during the coma. I still did not know the extent of my injuries. I was having the sensation my legs were asleep, and that’s when I found out that I had lost both of my legs above the knee.
I spent the following months in the hospital to regain my strength from the coma, and learning more about what happened throughout my time in a medically induced coma. I was told that I had overcome the 3% chance of surviving through the night multiple times. My liver and kidneys had completely shut down, and I was on a dialysis machine 24/7. I almost lost my left arm due to infection. There was no way I was going to quit at that point. I was released from the hospital on June 3rd, 2015, and sent to rehab where I was tested and released within the 2-week minimum.
I met High Fives Founder and CEO Roy Tuscany around November of 2015. Roy had linked up High Fives Foundation with a gym I was training at called the Adaptive Training Foundation for a program called Military to the Mountains. I was lucky enough to be invited to join this program, and experience the freeing feeling of sliding down a mountain in style. I learned everything I could on the first day of sliding around looking good.I was untethered from my instructor by day two – skiing independently for the first time.
This was the first time I’d felt a sense of freedom since my motorcycle accident. I would describe the freedom as being one with the earth, feeling the wind rush past my face, and not having a care in the world. It only took one time and I was hooked. Since that experience with Military to the Mountain, I been skiing every year with High Fives Foundation on my very own Sit-Ski. That was all made possible by the amazing support of donors and companies who contributed to the High Fives Empowerment Fund. Soon, I will learn how to race on my sit-ski at a High Fives adaptive camp in Vermont. High Fives has taught me that I can do anything now that I could have before, and somethings I can do even better!
If everything in your life feels in control, you’re not trying hard enough.
Sincerely,
