Editor’s note: This article is the first of a two-part series focusing on Brian Schmidt, BYU-I Service Activities adviser, and his challenges coping with a disability. The second part will appear next week in the Campus section.

Skiing during the winter. Jogging during the summer. Helping around the house. Playing outdoors with his kids. Teaching students to serve. Brian Schmidt’s life was abundant and rich. He would not have changed a thing — but he was forced to. One fateful day an accident happened, spinning his world into another realm.

It all began June 18, 2005, in Evanston, Wyo., when Brian, BYU-I Service Activities adviser, and his family came together for a final gathering before his in-laws left to serve a mission for the Church. Brian decided to enjoy some horseback riding.

“As I rode one horse, [it] seemed to be doing well until I let it run. I allowed [the horse] to trot, and then it went completely berserk,” Brian said.

After three huge bucks, Brian was thrown an estimated 15 feet before he slammed into the hard ground.

Lying there in extreme pain, Brian reached down and touched his legs – numb.

“I knew I was paralyzed right then and there, but I also realized it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I was alive,” he said, recalling the experience.

Sarah, Brian’s wife, remembers the initial shock she felt when she went outside and saw him lying in the field.

“We didn’t exactly know what was wrong, but I was so grateful that Brian was still there, and that everything I loved about him was still intact. I sensed how serious this accident was, but it was not until I got on the phone with my sister-in-law that the tears came and I started to cry,” Sarah said.

Brian was life-flighted to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City where diagnosis was dismal — one vertebrae was shattered and a few others were broken.

Despite the diagnosis, Brian would not be discouraged.

“I was not able to ride in the helicopter when they took Brian,” Sarah explained. “But when I arrived at the hospital, he was being cheerful already.”

During the grueling two days of surgery that followed, Brian realized he would no longer be able to do many things he had once loved. He was paralyzed from the waist down and was beginning to see the obstacles he would have to overcome.

Brian had become one of the 50 million Americans who have a disability, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Steve Andersen, BYU-I Adaptive Services Program adviser, understands the obstacles those with disabilities face. How? Cerebral palsy, a disorder caused by faulty development or damage to certain areas in the brain, affects his daily activities. Slurred speech and uncontrolled muscle spasms are a few of the struggles he contends with.

“Kermit the Frog said it best,” Andersen said. “‘It isn’t easy being green.’ Well, it isn’t easy being disabled.”

In his capacity, Andersen has seen the challenges those with disabilities face at this university.

Attitudinal barriers still exist in the classroom toward those with disabilities, Andersen said. “Some teachers will be nice without really opening their minds

to possibilities.”

It can be hard for students with disabilities to leave their realm of security and come to BYU-I. No one knows them. All people see is their appearance, which can be harshly deceiving, said Red Taylor, BYU-I Academic Learning faculty.

The same obstacles those with disabilities face at BYU-I surrounded Brian in the LDS Hospital, where he stayed for six weeks following his accident.

The walls of the hospital corridors were confining. But the fact that Brian was now a paraplegic with a one percent chance of full recovery, added a greater wall. It would be a difficult wall to climb, but one he was determined to use as a ladder — pulling him to higher ground.

A hand to hold

He is the man she loves, the father of their six children, her husband of 14 years. He has been her partner and her greatest support. Now he is the man lying in a hospital bed — paralyzed.

The burden placed upon Sarah Schmidt is not a weight she has to carry alone.

“As I sat in the waiting room during those long hours of surgery following the accident, all my family, along with Brian’s family, was there. I was grateful that I didn’t have to wait alone,” Sarah said.

Emotional support was not the only way the families assisted the Schmidts. Not long after the accident, the Schmidts’ son turned 12, and the entire family met at the grandparents’ home.

“It was there that all the men in the family placed their hands on Soren’s head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood,” Brian said.

Following the blessing, the family came together for an extended council to decide how they could help. One concern was where the Schmidts would live for the months while Brian recovered. A house was found in Salt Lake City and all the details were decided.

On July 24, Brian spent another day away from the hospital. It was a holiday unlike any other, as family came to the Schmidt’s new home.

“By the end of the day it was furnished from top to bottom... all the intricate details were taken care of by a loving family,” Brian said.

Six weeks after the accident, Brian was released from the hospital.

Another family council was held to discuss the best care for Brian. All the doctors in the family were assigned to research different rehabilitation programs. NeuroWorx, a program started by a quadriplegic doctor in Salt Lake City, was the place to go.

Initially, Brian thought he would be there a few weeks, but then he and his two sisters attended a meeting with the director of NeuroWorx.

“It was there in that office where I was finally able to accept how much therapy I would need,” Brian said.

The Schmidts would stay in Salt Lake City for at least four months in order for Brian to get proper therapy.

The support system of those with disabilities makes a tremendous difference, said Steve Schwab, a physical therapist in Rexburg.

Sarah Schmidt understands what it means to be supportive. Taking care of six children from 8 months to 12 years old is challenging enough. Add caring for her husband and it is enough to wear out anyone.

She maintains a positive attitude but admits there are times when she “has needed to have a good cry.”

“Most of the time the caretakers job is bigger than me. I am learning to rely on the Lord and accept the help of others,” said Sarah.

While the first four months were intense for the Schmidt family, things are getting easier.

“It’s too bad I married such a nice guy,” Sarah said. “I was really spoiled. He did so much around the house. It’s been one of the hardest things for Brian, to watch me carry so much of the load,” she said.

For 15 years Brian has been teaching college students to serve. Service has become a way of life for him, but now he is the one in need of service.