Photo by Jeffrey S. Hall Photography
Dublin Jerome High School graduate Ian Burkhart is, in a lot of ways, like most other 26-year-olds.
He enjoys traveling, spending time with his friends and family, and exploring Columbus, where he lives. One thing that sets Burkhart apart from most others his age, however, is a biggie: He is affected by quadriplegia.
Many in Dublin know Burkhart’s story. When he was 19, following his freshman year at Ohio University, Burkhart and his friends headed down to the Outer Banks. After a long drive, Burkhart and his friends ran to the beach to test the water.
Burkhart poses with other members the Dublin Jerome High School lacrosse coaching staff
After he dove in, a tide caught Burkhart, sending him neck-first into a sandbar. He was paralyzed immediately. This began four months of surgery, rehabilitation and a month in a nursing home in Dublin. In a moment, his life had changed completely, but he says as soon as he returned home, the community was there.
“That’s one of the big things that I shouldn’t be surprised about, but I was: how much the community rallied around me,” Burkhart says. “It was just amazing, the support from everybody – people that I knew, people that I didn’t know. It’s definitely a good place to be.”
Anyone who knows him knows that Burkhart isn’t one to back down from a challenge. Jerome, from which Burkhart had graduated just a year earlier, held fundraisers and presented Burkhart’s parents, Terre and Doug, with a check at a football game in Burkhart’s honor. The money helped with increasing medical bills and modifications to Doug’s house, which included an elevator, ramps and renovated bathroom to allow Burkhart access.
“Living with a spinal cord injury is like a chess match. You have to think a couple steps ahead and plan around it, but then you get curveballs thrown at you.” - Burkhart
Now, years after the 2010 accident, Burkhart’s life is back to normal – a new normal. He drives, lives on his own, is enrolled at The Ohio State University, coaches Jerome’s lacrosse team and is a key subject in a clinical trial by Battelle and OSU. The trial, Reanimation in Tetraplegia, made Burkhart the first person with quadriplegia ever to move his hand with his mind, and Burkhart, Battelle and OSU are still making key findings in the trial today.
The accident has brought his family closer together, and he attributes his success to his parents and his siblings, Goldie, Taylor and Marshall. Though Burkhart’s determination never wavered, his independence and finding the new normal didn’t happen overnight.
“I’ve been able to adapt to a new sense of what my life should be like, and kind of been able to go with it and get back to a normal-ish pattern in my life,” he says. “Because of the help I was able to get from the community, it set me on that right path.”
This past spring, Burkhart founded the Ian Burkhart
Ian Burkhart is hooked up to the device devised by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Battelle that allowed him to move his hand with his mind
Foundation in order to help others with spinal cord injuries. He knows that others may not have the strong support system he did in Dublin, so he hopes to give back through his foundation.
“I had the best opportunity for success after my injury. Now I want to be able to give other people that same opportunity,” Burkhart says. “To help re-establish their life … to get back to where you were, where you want to be.”
The family and community support helped Burkhart to do things that able-bodied people take for granted. Burkhart has limited use of his wrists, elbows and shoulders, which allows him operate his van and wheelchair and do almost everything independently. But for those in wheelchairs, even visiting friends can be difficult when most homes are only accessible via stairs. These are things that he hopes to focus on through the foundation.
“I got a portable ramp to go to some of my friends’ houses, because that is something that really does help stimulate that community feeling, versus everyone always coming to your place,” Burkhart says. “Living with a spinal cord injury is like a chess match. You have to think a couple steps ahead and plan around it, but then you get curveballs thrown at you.”
The first stage for the foundation is to raise awareness and money. Once Burkhart has the funds, he’ll begin the hunt for potential candidates. For a list of criteria and to donate, visit www.ianburkhartfoundation.org.
Though he is often traveling, delivering presentations on the brain and future of medical technology around the U.S., Burkhart still finds time to enjoy Columbus and study for class. He hopes to make strides with the foundation, Reanimation in Tetraplegia and, after he graduates, he hopes to get into public accounting.
The Jerome varsity lacrosse players should be glad to know, too, that he has no intentions of leaving his coaching position, which he still loves. Though his injury at first seemed to be an obstacle, it’s become just another part of Burkhart’s life, and he sees it as yet another opportunity.
“My outlook has definitely changed, as far as really not taking anything for granted, being thankful for what you have. It’s all those cliché things that make a lot more sense now,” Burkhart says. “Some of my passion has changed – like with starting the foundation, something I’m super, super passionate about. But I never would’ve wanted to do anything like that if it wasn’t for my spinal injury.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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