Humans of GLISS Blog

Today we bring you the story of dedication and healing - this story is Joel’s.

Joel left his house one day expecting to return just as happy and healthy as he left. That wasn’t the case for him - he was, unfortunately, crushed by a forklift that day. We wish we could say that Joel made it out unscathed, but he in fact left with life-threatening injuries.

Sometimes people say that it takes near-death experiences to change your life, and some say that everything you go through, you grow through. Both sayings were fitting for Joel at this time. Almost losing his life gave him a great perspective of where he could be at that moment. During his rehabilitation, he decided that he needed to quit drinking, get sober, and live a life that positively impacted him. So, he began on his new journey of rehabilitation from the injuries and sobriety.

He isn’t sure if he would have ever chosen to be sober if he didn’t go through something like this (although sobriety and the injury were not related incidents), but he is happy he made that choice. Not only did he recover easier being sober, but he was also able to think more clearly and dedicate the time he needed to his healing. This wasn’t the end of the struggles for Joel though.

Once Joel was completely rehabbed, the next step was to find work again. This presented a whole new slew of troubles for him as the thought of being around a forklift was traumatizing. Finding employment without the possibility of forklifts nearby was an incredibly hard task.

Joel searched and searched until he ended up accepting a job at a fruit production facility. Did they have forklifts? YES. But there they put safety first and they respect Joel’s previous trauma and anxieties. Joel says that he pushed himself to be able to do this because he knew where he was, and he doesn’t want to go backward in life. He wants to keep pushing towards a better and brighter future and use what happened to him to make him stronger. That choice he makes every single day here, and we are blessed to walk with him in his journey to becoming his best self!