 |
|||||
|
Inner strength
By Jason Dietrich
|
Physical fitness fanatic John Miali points out the proper form for an arm curl at the Beach Cities Health District's revamped Center for Health and Healing. |
Eight years after a motorcycle accident cut short his dreams of making the Navy's elite SEAL combat team, exercise enthusiast John Miali turned a twist of fortune into a lifestyle based on positive thinking.
He employs the skills he used to come to terms with his chest-down paralysis and help others realize the effect a fit body can have on every other aspect of their lives.
"I try to show people the difference that being in shape can make in their lives. It improves your relations with other people, makes you work faster and makes you feel better. And someday it may even save your life," Miali said.
On his way to exercise with his brother, a 19-year-old Miali crashed his Kawasaki motorcycle. The accident crushed the right side of his chest, collapsing his right lung, breaking six ribs, three vertebrae and leaving him paralyzed below his chest. He had lost so much blood, doctors said he shouldn't have lived. Unconscious for a day and in critical condition for a week, Miali credits his conditioning with saving his life.
"They said that the only reason I survived was that I was in such good shape," he says.
Miali spent the next month in the hospital and 10 months at home, recovering. When he was able to move around again, he was determined to fight his way back into shape, despite being confined to a wheel chair.
But the long recuperation left him afraid that he could never again live an active lifestyle. He had lost almost all of his muscle tone, and more importantly, he had lost his confidence. He didn't know what his shattered body was capable of. But during his first day back at the gym, he met Russell Serr, an athlete who also suffered from chest-down paralysis.
"I had never even seen anyone there in a wheel chair. Let alone someone with my exact level of paralysis," Miali said.
Miali's bulging arms and chest are testament to the fact that he was able to work his way back into physical fitness. But getting in shape was just the beginning. A three-sport athlete in high school, he missed competing. He took up wheelchair tennis as a way to fuel his competitive drive and learn about his disability by communicating with similarly impacted athletes.
He attacked the sport with the same intensity as his other endeavors and set a goal to win amateur wheelchair tennis' premier event, the U.S. Open in five years. He's been playing for seven and made it to the doubles finals in the "A" division last year and the quarterfinals in singles.
"This year, I'm going to win the 'A' division for sure," Miali said.
Miali brought the same killer attitude to his new job, signing up members for the Beach Cities Health District's recently re-opened Center for Health and Healing. At the rehab and health education oriented gym, he's able to preach his gospel of mental and physical discipline.
Miali knows firsthand that people in recovery need the guidance of those who have been through it before. By working with Serr and playing tennis against other paralyzed athletes he was able to come to terms with his limits, and push them. At the center, Miali helps see that those with heart conditions, diabetes or recovering from injuries can get the support they need from staff and others with similar diseases or disabilities.
When he's not at work talking about the power of exercise and positive thinking, Miali is putting his theories into practice; lifting weights, working with his personal training clients and writing a self-help book.
"Sometimes I think I'm bringing my work home with me. It seems like my wife and I are always talking about goals, positive thinking, improving physically and mentally," he said.
But even a clean-living machine like Miali takes a break every once in a while -- even if it's structured as a reminder of why he's on the path he's chosen.
"I eat clean. Really clean -- six days a week. One day a week is cheat day. You eat whatever you want. Ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers. And at the end of the day you so don't want it any more. You feel disgusting. You'd be amazed at how good you can be for six days at a time," he said. ER