Sam Schmidt opens paralysis center in Indianapolis to rehabilitate trauma victims

Paralyzed in a racing accident nearly 25 years ago, Sam Schmidt has spent much of the last quarter century trying to prove to others that there is a way to have a meaningful life with a traumatic spinal cord injury.

That was the furthest thing from his mind when he crashed at Walt Disney World Speedway in the opening days of 2000. He suffered a C3 and C4 spinal cord injury, wasn’t breathing for almost four minutes, and had to be helicoptered to Orlando.

His wife was at home in Las Vegas with their children, and when she arrived in Florida, the prognosis was grim.

“We’re lucky he survived the night and if he survives the week, just find him a nursing home,” Schmidt told The Associated Press, detailing what the doctors relayed to his wife. “He’ll be on a ventilator the rest of his life.”