The victim of a hit-and-run accident that occurred in Brooklyn, New York, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, thought he would be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. Now, Cory Moses is moving around on his own — but the journey wasn’t easy.
On Oct. 25, 2020, Moses, 28, rode his bike through his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. According to Atlanta Black Star, someone in a parked car opened the door, and Moses collided with it. Immediately following the first incident, Moses was hit by an SUV.
“I was just kind of strolling, and someone with a parked car just opened their door, and I ran into it,” Moses recalled. “Right after that, the SUV behind me ran over me, and that fractured six ribs and severed my spine.”
Upon impact, Moses said he lost feeling in his lower extremities. It wasn’t until he was placed into the ambulance that he felt the worst pain in his life.
“When they straightened me out to do that, my nerves started going crazy, so my body felt like it was electrocuting itself, so that was probably the most pain I felt during the entire situation,” Moses said.
Instead of checking to make sure Moses was all right, both parties played the blame game before taking off before authorities arrived at the scene.
“The person who ran over me stopped to argue with the person who opened the door about whose fault it was, and when they heard the sirens, they left, they drove off, and they never got caught,” Moses explained.
As a result of both drivers’ recklessness, Moses went through five surgeries, one on his arm and four on his back, suffering a Type C spinal injury with displacement. Doctors told Moses he might never walk or feel his legs again. However, with a positive attitude, virtual physical therapy lessons, and two-and-a-half months of in-patient rehab, Moses worked diligently to get back to doing everyday tasks like cooking, getting dressed and using the bathroom.
Moses said he struggled during in-patient rehab mentally.
“We really focused on fine motor skills and homing in on the small things to make the larger adjustments,” Moses said. “It feels like your kind of working towards nothing, so mentally, it messes with you.”
After enduring a whole year of rehab, Moses was determined to accomplish a new goal he set after the accident– walking. And he succeeded.
“I’m walking with braces and forearm crutches most of the time,” he said. “My braces actually broke because I’m too active for them, apparently.”
Moses gives credit for his recovery to his faith and support system.
“I practice Buddhism, and that’s really gotten me to a level mental state, and it’s taught me to find happiness where I am.
The 28-year-old man is now involved in parafencing and has won two competitions in January. He has also found interest in artificial intelligence and robotics.
