Matt Blaylock Discovers What He Can Do After His Accident

Editor’s Note: Twenty-one-year-old Matt Blaylock from Canton, Georgia was a strong, healthy, talented, three sport athlete, with a college scholarship in his pocket until his accident. Part 3 of a 5 part series.

When I got out of rehab, I was still paralyzed. I’d been highly successful – both physically and athletically. I realized that in the condition I was in, that was all gone. The one thing I did have left was my mind, so I knew that then was the time for me to start using my mind and discover all the things I could do with it. The time had come for me to grow mentally and spiritually. The first thing I had to deal with was what caused me to be in this situation. I’d made some bad choices, I’d done things I shouldn’t have done, and I felt that I had a responsibility to tell others not to make those same bad choices I’d made. I never would have thought that one or two decisions I’d made on the day I got hurt would change my life forever and dramatically impact my future.

I began to understand that if I could help other young people not make the same choices I’d made, I had the potential to prevent other young people from having accidents like mine. As I began to share my story with high school and college students, I believed I’d had a positive impact on their lives and their futures. This helped me grow tremendously as a human being, learning what was important and what wasn’t.

Matthew shares with other young people how important it is to make good decisions. Photo source.

Today I know I want to continue to learn and to grow. Right now, I’m in a better place mentally than I was right after the accident. If I could get my body to be in the same place as my head, I think the sky would be the limit. I realize that if I’m going to be a public speaker and be able to deliver my message in the best form to positively impact people, I need to learn more about how to be a good speaker. I didn’t have any public speaking classes before my accident, but now I’m going to Toastmasters, an organization that teaches people to be better speakers. I speak on how the decisions young people make now can affect the rest of their lives and also other people’s lives.

Matthew is learning to become a better public speaker so he can continue to share his story.

To learn more about Matt Blaylock, contact turcotteba@windstream.net, or call 770-380-1432.

Next: Matt Blaylock Learns About What Really Matters In Life

About the Author: For the last 12 years, John E. Phillips of Vestavia, Alabama, has been a professional blogger for major companies, corporations and tourism associations throughout the nation. During his 24 years as Outdoor Editor for “The Birmingham Post-Herald” newspaper, he published more than 7,000 newspaper columns and sold more than 100,000 of his photos to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. He also hosted a radio show that was syndicated at 27 radio stations; created, wrote and sold a syndicated newspaper column that ran in 38 newspapers for more than a decade; and wrote and sold more than 30 books. Learn more at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com