Name: David Peters
Age: 43
Residence: Texas
Level of Injury: C-3 Quadriplegic
Occupation: Translator
Date of Interview: January 27, 2025

1) Please introduce yourself and share about the events that led to your injury?

My name is David Peters, I’m from Seminole, Texas. I’m 43 years old and I was injured when I was 19, back in 2000. There was a car accident. We were just cruising the drag, and I looked back for too long, then when I looked forward, we just couldn’t stop. I slammed on the brakes, it was raining. It was the first cold day of the year, and it was raining so there was just no traction, so we couldn’t stop. Hit the back of a modular truck, I don’t know if you know what a modular truck is. It’s this big cotton bales, here in West Texas. Yah, and they didn’t have the bumper down so like, in the field they have to raise up the bumper so that they can let the bed down to pull those big module bails onto the truck. And he had forgotten to put the bumper back down. So my truck was basically able to fit underneath it. And it has these big chains that drags the modular into the truck, and those chains actually came up the truck and broke the C4-C5 spinal cord. So my head hit that chain and it just crushed C4-C5. So, it was a terrible injury. I was 19 at the time. At the time it was me and my girlfriend in the vehicle. Her jaw was broken. When I saw what was going to happen I pulled her down, so her jaw hit the steering wheel and broke her jaw. I think she spent 6 weeks with a jaw that was wired shut, but I’m so glad that not worse things happened to her, you know. It would have been hard to forgive myself even if worse had happened to her. I was in the hospital for 6 months. Three and a half months here in Lubbock, TX, then two and a half months in San Antonio, in a rehab facility. They tried to do all they could. They did constant therapy and tried to get back as much movement as we could. It's just… I’m complete, what they call it, so there’s no… we couldn’t get anything back. It was just pretty much the strength I had in my arms back then is still what I have. In the beginning when I first came home, we would tie rope to the roof or to the ceiling and I would swing my arms all day, you know, and try to exercise them. But it just wouldn’t get any better, you know. And I would just basically pull my shoulders out of socket, you know, because there was no muscle there, but I tried because I was swinging them as much as I could. But it was hurting and was doing even more damage than good, so I stopped that. So yah, still the same way, it hasn’t gotten any better. Now when we do physical therapy, we still, we try every now and then to see if any strength has come back but it’s basically the same. So if I had died there in that vehicle. I didn’t know Jesus; I had heard of God, but I was not saved. I was living a bad life of drinking and smoking. Yah that's the great like… It doesn’t matter how bad it gets; all I can do is be thankful because He saved me from hell. And I can, I was able to get to know Him and I can live for Him and make things better each day. So it’s amazing like people often say, it must be hard or whatever, but well it isn’t always easy, but you know eternity in hell would be much worse, so, yah it’s a great testimony. Like in the first 13 years I couldn’t say that, but I’ve come to grow in the Lord a lot and I feel blessed to be here everyday.

2) What was your experience in the first months in the hospital after your injury?

Mine was mostly mentally I guess, because I was so afraid. I didn’t want to die like this. Yah I screamed out to God but I didn’t know how to do it exactly. You know confess my sins and like it says in 1st John chapter 1:9, I think it is you know, if we confess our sins, He is true and righteous and forgives us. But at the time I just couldn’t believe it, I didn’t think it was that easy, you know. I was always trying to do these things on my own, you know, that I wanted to do. But once you accept Him, He just forgives you. Yah so like, I couldn’t talk for that whole time. I had the trach (tracheostomy) and stuff and that was really hard. I just wanted to say sorry to a lot of people you know, and I couldn’t. I was just…I couldn’t speak. I used to have like claustrophobia a little bit, like when I was underneath something. Then all the sudden I would get claustrophobic and want to get up pretty quick you know. Because I used to do some mechanic work. So like lets say I was underneath a truck or something and I’d kinda get claustrophobic but this was like 10 times worse. Because I couldn’t even turn my head because you know I had that collar on I couldn’t speak. The only thing I could move was my eyes, you know. That’s when you find out what you’re made of, I was scared. It was tough on me. But then slowly I was able to speak. They put a speaking valve on and I learned to speak again and things got easier. But it was still tough for quite a few years at home even still. In the beginning I was not mad at God, but like, I was always asking God why, why’d you let this happen to me Lord. Poor me you know, but all the sudden I started asking just why. But I realized it was to glorify Him. I was supposed to glorify Him and why am I any better than anybody else. If I’m supposed to glorify Him, why would I want somebody else to do that. So that changed my perspective a lot and acceptance of, you know, this is not forever and it could have been so much worse, like if I had died in that car accident. So it's all perspective right. So yah mentally is where I struggled the most. But yeah physically we didn’t find out till... My exam happened on October 15th, and we didn’t find out till Christmas that my lungs had collapsed. That’s why I had such a hard time recovering from all that stuff because my lungs had somehow gotten damaged as well. But we didn’t realize that it had collapsed, so before Christmas that year they cut out that piece of bad lung and then I started feeling better. So yeah, that was definitely spending New Years and Christmas in the hospital that was challenging. It seems that my mind is kind of blanking some of that stuff out. I don’t remember a lot of it actually. I think some of it was just too tough. Like and what I didn’t understand was like my girlfriend, I wanted her to get better right. She was getting better everyday and for me it just wasn’t. I remember my parents telling me later they saw the same thing, how she was getting better and thye wanted so bad for me to get better as well. I always had this idea, you know I’m going to walk out of this hospital, you know. But later you have to let that go and accept the fact that life’s going to be a bit different now.

3) What were the events and people that brought you to Jesus?

Yah, just different friends, they would take me to different outings, churches and stuff. Yah I went to a private school where Christianity was taught, you know, but I just, you know, reckless teenager stuff, you know. I just wanted to party and stuff. To my shame that was my life before. Yah, just friends would share the gospel, and I started, you know, reading more and more. I didn’t have much other stuff to do, you know, so I was reading the Bible more and all that stuff I did back then, I don’t want to do it any more. It's just changed my life completely.

4) What gave you hope during your dark moments in the hospital?

In the beginning I wanted to do it for other people, I wanted to do it for her. But then like slowly realized that I couldn’t do this for anybody else. I can do it only for myself and for God and I just wanted to be alive spreading his word. That’s when I started accepting it, that I wasn’t going to be able to walk again, but could still be a great testament to Him. Even in a wheelchair and in my bed, or wherever. Yah that gives me great hope. Yah, I love doing it. I’m not very good like in a crowd, I tense up and stuff, but I like to talk to people one on one. I help people get their driver’s license. Like I speak German, like you’d speak in Germany. I speak low German, like a dialect of Ukraine, and I speak Spanish as well. So, I translate for people. Driver license courses for immigrants that come from Mexico that speak only low German. I translate for them and help them with a lot of paperwork and stuff like that. I do some business cards for local companies. I do a little bit of that and I also do travel plans or tickets. I do stuff like that, that's how I keep busy. Help them translate like the course, the whole course if I need, and also the answers or the questions. Then even if there are multiple choice, I try to explain the questions then the multiple choice answers and stuff.

5) How did you get connected with Bonus Years/Mr Wes Price?

So, some of my cousins go to church with a friend of his moms. I’ve met her a few times, and I go to church with them and stuff. So, that’s how I got connected with them. So, after I found out that I was paralyzed. So that’s how we got connected. Yah It’s been pretty awesome. You can connect with all these people who are going through some of the same struggles you are, you know, and yah it's super helpful. It’s been cool like, you meet these people, and you get to know them and they’re like your brothers, sisters, you know. It’s just every week you just want to, you can’t wait for the meeting because you know you want to hang out with these guys who are awesome. I love it very much.

6) How are these meetings important for Spinal Cord Injury Survivors?

Yah very important, because let’s just say you’ve been hurt for a few months or few years or whatever. You can just talk to these guys. For me it’s been 24 years, you know, I could have a lot of advice for someone who’s learning all these things and doesn’t know where to go from here. I’ve learned a lot from Wes, and I’ve learned a lot from Ziloung , like he comes here from China, it’s awesome. I would never have met this guy if it wasn’t for this, so yah I love it very much. Yeah, I consider Wes a brother pretty much, he’s always so kind and yah its just awesome.

7) How would you encourage SCI survivors to engage in Bonus Years?

I felt the same way. I felt that I wouldn’t belong, but just give it one hour. Just try it for one weekend. We meet on Fridays, just try it once and I think you’ll be hooked. I felt the same way, like man I’m going to feel so out of place and stuff, but it's not. Like Wes, he just knows how to speak to everybody and I think just give it a try and I think you’ll come to love it. Yah you gonna look forward to the weekend so you can talk to your friends and I would say just try it and go from there. I just met another survivor, he’s nine years now and he calls it his anniversary, or something like that. Like he puts injury and anniversary together. So yah, I invited him, so I think he’s gonna be there next Friday. That’s what I told him, just try it and if you don’t like it, it's ok, but just come up. I sent him a link and if he’s there this Friday, he can share whatever he’s learned in his journey. He’s got a great story as well and so I think if we lean on each other, it makes life easier and better. So just try it I think.

8) What do you discuss in your meetings?

Prayer, which is really important, we talk about what has been our struggle of the weak, or what we’re struggling with at the time. We take time to pray, at different times we’ll lead prayer and just you can ask any questions. Maybe personal with the issues for quadriplegics, you know whatever. I mean nothing is off limits, you can talk about whatever, you can ask any questions and we try to answer and just be non-judgmental while we talk about these things.

9) How has the Bonus Years organization improved your life?

Yah just I’m more open in how I’m able to share. Like I’d say I’m good in a setting where there’s more people, like it's opened up to where I can speak in front of a crowd easier. Yah that has helped me a lot, that I’m able to share in a group like that where there are multiple people. But I’m good at one-on-one, but yeah that’s definitely and yeah it’s encouraging. These people encourage me to keep fighting, keep going forward. If we can all encourage each other and pray for each other, just to share what we’ve learned, and what makes it easier. I think it’s good for us as a community. Yah I would encourage everyone who is paralyzed to come and check it out and see if it can help you in any way. Like help you speak to people about what makes the injury easier or just how to pray with people, so that you’re not isolated. Just be a part of the guys.

10) What encouragement do you have for someone who is a recent or long time SCI survivor?

Just try to accept it, don't be negative and don’t feel like God is doing this to you. We live in a fallen world, accidents happen, and just try to look toward God's world. It’s just a lifespan. It’s not worth being mad at God or anyone else, just give it to God and pray and He will lead you and He will help you, and things will get easier. One of the things that was hard for me, I was bitter and angry, at the beginning in the hospital. See now with people, I know somebody here who’s dealing with that and he’s always just angry. So, I try to tell him, start doing little things for yourself or help someone else in the community, so just that you’re not thinking all the time. Read the Bible or read books, or start. Like I did just start making designs for people, and people will show up and you can talk for hours sometimes, with the customer who’s ordering business cards, or whatever. Just do something for the community and so you’re not just there, just spending time alone. That’s what I struggled with, the loss taking up a lot of the time.

11) Do you have a favorite quote or verse that motivates you?

Like mine is the one I said earlier, 1st John 1:9 (If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness), that was huge cause I realized it’s that easy. Then if you confess sins, God will cleanse you from all unrighteousness, that’s like my favorite verse because it goes so deep. You know once I realized that it made things so much easier for me, you know. Yah 1st John chapter 1.

12) What is your current family life like?

Yah, I live with my mom and dad actually. I have for all these years, and I’m not married. So, yah I’m single. I live with mom and dad, and they take great care of me. A lot of times I just thought, man mom and dad they just don’t want me to have any fun or don’t want me to do anything. But now I see it was to protect me and I’m grateful to mom and dad. I love them both very much. They do everything for me. So, it’s a great life actually. I’m super blessed to be where I am. I have a lot of nieces and nephews and a lot of cousins who come over. They take me out. Like yesterday I went over to a friend’s house to watch the games, hung out with them and had lots of fun. Yah and we have a Superbowl party planned with my cousins. We’re gonna have a Superbowl party and just cook and watch the game and hang out, so yah. This year, actually for the first time I went to the Dallas Cowboys stadium to watch the Eagles and the Cowboys play. It was awesome. The friends that took me were all Cowboys fans and I was an Eagles fan. Yah it was cool The Eagles won. Yah it was a new experience, I’ve never done anything like that before.

13) What would you like the world to know about SCI survivors?

They kind of look at you. It's like they want to talk, but they’re afraid. Like don’t be afraid just come up and talk to us. We’ll share as much as we want or as little, you know. Just come up and talk to us and ask questions, we’re not too proud to answer. Just come up and ask questions. Because I see people and I’m like man, I know they want to come up to me and ask me something, but they don’t dare. But yeah like what Zilong said, yah just anything like that, if you’re thinking you’re having a bad day just… Like me right now, I’d like to just go outside, but I can’t because mom and dad are not here, so I’m just lying in bed. But if I could just snap my fingers and I would be outside you know and hang out there for a while, but it’s not that easy, you know. And other people need to be thankful for what they have and just think because it is easy, you can just walk from the bed to your living room or you can walk to the bathroom or outside and sit in the sun for a little bit. All these things you can do you can just… if you want to do it you can do it. And for us with spinal cord injuries we can’t. We got to wait for other people when they have time to do it and things like that. So, you should be thankful that you get to do all these things. Like go for a run or go for a walk, with your dog or your son or someone. Like just going for a walk is like a huge blessing, just whenever you want to. Yah anything. I see and hear a lot of people complain about stuff at work. Like work stuff, “I hate my job” like man, if I could do your job, like I’d be so happy, I’d do it gladly, you know. Yah people they just forget to be thankful, and they complain about little things that us SCI people who would not complain about doing that stuff anymore. Once you change your perspective. Like yesterday I was out with my friends outside, I didn’t move once but it was fun. It’s all in the perspective you have. Then I thought if I was running around or doing something it would be fun you know. But that’s definitely not the case. You can be thankful in any circumstance. Yah, I always have tough days but like it could be so much worse. Like me, if somebody isn’t here all the time, I can go two hours or so without a drink of water. So, someone has to constantly be here you know. Even just alone time sometimes is important to get your thoughts right, you know.

14) What suggestions would you give to nurses caring for SCI patients?

Just encourage them and be kind to them and some of them are going to say some mean things and do things, but just don’t hold it against them. They just, they already know what they’re doing it's just…There was no ill intent it’s just the moment is so big. You’re so uncomfortable, the medicine, the morphine, that you’ve been on so long that you’re in so much pain coming off of it. I’m sure there are people that are very unhappy and yah just have patience with them, they don’t mean it, it just comes out like that sometimes. Yah I’ve had nurses when I couldn’t sleep here. Then I had this one, she would just sit there almost all night and just hang out with me and just talk to me and stuff. Because I couldn’t sleep. They couldn’t give me anything for pain, because my blood pressure was so low, and I was feeling sad, in so much pain, and she would just sit there. That’s so cool, like if you can do that, sit there and just hold their hand or just talk to them, it means a whole lot.