Chris Esler’s life was changed forever after a crash in 2007 left him with a broken C2,C3 and C4 vertebrae, leaving him paralysed from the neck down and nearly losing his life.
As tou will eead below Chris has battled bravely through the years despite the physical and emotional hurdles and even goes to races when he can, but now he needs your help in order to maintain the 24/7 care he needs with the up to date medical equipment he requires.
Read his story in his own words below and, if you can, donate here.
Chris Esler’s story
Hi, my name is Chris Esler from Ballymena, Northern Ireland and I have been surviving with this life-changing injury for the last 17.5 years due to a motocross accident in 2007.
I am finally getting the chance to reach out to people all over the world as back in 2007, there was no such thing as social media or a platform such as this, to be able to ask for the help that I urgently need now.
On April 9th, 2007, aged 24, I started a new challenge in my life.
Having won a good number of races in the semi-expert motocross championship in 2006 I moved up to the expert motocross championship.
I knew this day would have challenges but nothing like what was to come…
The day was going brilliantly with two good results in the first two races, but halfway through the last race of the day, I was breaking into the last corner doing approx 10-15mph at Donemana race track.
Then bang…
An Electric shock goes right through my entire body and I’m on the ground looking back up the track, saying “What the hell”. I go to get up and only my head moves slightly, I go to try again and my head only moves a little bit more, somehow it’s locked and confirmed in my brain in those few seconds that I am paralysed and will never move again. I was utterly terrified, so I tried to scream but nothing happened. I realised I was suffocating. I could vaguely see my dad and my aunt running up towards me and I could hear people talking but not exact words, then I could feel my body rolling back, the only clear words I heard were “Cut it, cut it, cut it”. Then that’s it, everything turns black…
Those words “Cut it cut it cut it” were from my dad trying to take the helmet off so that the paramedics could give me breaths and start chest compressions because I was going into cardiac arrest. Thankfully my dad got the helmet off and the paramedics were able to revive me and I was brought back within 30 seconds…
Five days later in the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, I woke up and asked where am I realising I couldn’t speak properly. A nurse got my mum, dad, girlfriend of five years and surgeons to explain to me where I am and why I am here.
The surgeons told me that I have broken the c2/c3/c4 vertebrae in my neck which has crushed my spinal cord which means I will have little chance of ever moving again and will continue to need a machine to breathe for me. As I could only whisper, I stated in the best way I could “It’s ok, I remember all that, I already knew I was paralysed on the track, but I remember suffocating which was so much worse, so I am ok with whatever way I’m alive, I’m just happy to be here”.
From the time of that unforgettable conversation, until this very day, I have been determined, strong, and positive using all of the focus, drive and energy I previously used to race to now remain a part of this world for as long as possible and learn to embrace all the challenges that was ahead of me and still are to this day.
One thing I never expected to have to ever overcome was to end my five-year relationship with my girlfriend only a couple of months whom I adored who was also my best friend. This was an exceptionally hard decision to make because I was deeply in love with her but regretfully had to do this at the time even though I would miss her every day desperately from then to this very day, to save us both.
So really, being on my own, with only my parents (who were grieving themselves) and a few family members for support, many people doubted my positivity, resilience, and willpower as I was an unusual case, being conscious and happy given the severity of my injuries.
I still was able to gather my thoughts and come to terms with everything, managing to figure out a way and a system to deal with my injury in those first days, weeks and months, as well as trying to find a new way to communicate as I was non-verbal for the first 3 months. Also, different aspects of my injury like getting into and getting used to a wheelchair, learning to talk on a machine, and simply eating again which was very painful initially, and grasping most of the aspects of the new life I would be living even though nearly all nurses, doctors and consultants doubted me as they thought I was in denial and not accepting my life-changing injuries.
What I didn’t expect was having to do it all while spending 6 months living in an Intensive Care Unit, (3 for my neck to heal and 3 waiting for my portable ventilators).
When I did transfer to Musgrave I had to spend a further 2 years and 3 months there waiting for my care package to be built up. This allowed me to feel like I had a purpose, spending most of my time helping others through their rehabilitation. I was able to also have a few pieces of media in local news.
So to finally get to an adapted house, 2 years and 9 months after my accident and waiting in hospitals, was amazing and it has been pretty good over these last number of years.
What most people don’t know or realise is that I need two ICU-level trained staff to be with me 24 hours a day to keep me alive which means I am never in a room on my own or even in my bedroom at night, the staff swap over every 30 minutes even while I try to sleep. It also means almost everywhere I go I have to pay for 3 tickets to every event as they can never leave my side. As well as suffering from, like most other people with this injury, extreme nerve pain 24/7. Also, I have spent long periods on bedrest because I have had pressure sores where I have to lay flat on my back 24 hours a day, sometimes weeks/months at a time (in my case, over 7 years in total!) until they are healed.
I must take the time to thank a few exceptionally kind people who did a few fundraisers at the time of my accident because of a loophole in my insurance coverage that meant I only received a few thousand pounds instead of a mid-six-figure sum that most people probably think I received. These funds raised enough money for me to pay for some devices that have played a substantial role in my daily living over the years that I must tell you are mostly redundant or outdated now that I can’t replace them as that money depleted quite a few years ago.
Over all these years, I have noticed that there were so many other people in similar situations to me who were high profile in their perspective fields they were able to receive huge numbers of funds which I’m so pleased they did which has enabled them to have access to certain devices/therapies that I couldn’t avail off. This has made a massive difference to their lives and hope if I can raise any amount close to theirs I will hopefully enjoy some of the benefits they have which would make a massive difference to my life and possibly others in different situations that I know I could help as well.
Currently, there is more technically advanced equipment and new technology available that will make a huge impact on the standard I can live my life now and in the future and secure funds for new designs or equipment as the world advances.
So this is why I am asking now for the sum required because there are essentials that I will need now as soon as possible and in the future. Those include certain devices/therapies I would like to have and need desperately to reduce the severe pain and discomfort that I am in. This would make me ecstatic cause the last couple of years have been exceptionally tough on me but I do want to continue to live a positive and fulfilling life and be free from pain.
Chris Esler #4.
