When a Strong Will Beats Weak Limbs

Before the bicycle accident that injured his spinal cord, Adam Shapiro was a natural athlete, a self-described “go-getter, 100%.”

The 1996 accident left him seriously ill with quadriparsis, a weakness in the four extremities. The Irvine teen uses a walker and forearm crutches to get around.

But he’s still a go-getter.

The 17-year-old had a dream and he found a way to turn it into reality. Shapiro wanted to observe a research project in Florida and meet two of the project’s fund-raisers, former Miami Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti and his son, Marc, who is quadriplegic as a result of a college football injury.

Shapiro turned to the Starlight Children’s Foundation, which grants wishes for seriously, chronically or terminally ill children. Starlight selected him as the recipient of its 20,000th dream fulfillment.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve never had anything happen in my life like this,” Shapiro said.

His wish comes true in April, when he and his family go to Florida and meet the Buonicontis, whose Fund to Cure Paralysis supports the Miami Project at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. The project brings together doctors, research scientists, rehab specialists and people who are paralyzed.

Shapiro is scheduled to visit the project and attend a Buoniconti Fund Golf Tournament in Palm Beach Gardens on April 27.

He discovered the Buonicontis’ fund about six months ago while searching the Internet for information on spinal-cord fractures.

The duo inspires Shapiro and he, in turn, inspires others.

After the accident, Shapiro spent three weeks in intensive care with a broken neck. Doctors said he would be on a ventilator and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

But after more than a year on a ventilator, Shapiro learned to breathe on his own. And he uses the wheelchair only for such things as getting around school.

“I surprised all the doctors and therapists,” Shapiro said.

Probably because he’s a go-getter.