Marty O’Connor Standing Story
8 Years Ago…
Marty O’Connor suffered his spinal cord injury; and today, he is a thriving business owner who now has a platform to share his experiences and make a positive difference in the world around him.
The Beginning
Marty was a successful salesman for a packaging and distribution company living on the peninsula at New Port Beach. He enjoyed surfing and hanging out with his friend. At 24, Marty felt like he was at his peak.
His injury happened after a long day of golf, birthday party with family, Angel’s baseball game and going out with friends that night. This long day wore down his mind and body. So, after Marty stood up from eating a piece of pizza on a staircase “Lights went out and I fell forward right on top of my neck,” Marty recollected.
After waking up the next morning still not being able to move or feel anything Marty knew something was truly wrong. “The weight of that just starts crushing you… I just got scared, I got really scared,” Marty continued. Once he went to the hospital it was all a blur. He found out he was a C3-C4 central spinal cord injury. He had become a quadriplegic.
Rehab
After an undetected UTI increased his spasticity and set Marty back he knew it was time to try something new. “I was doing things in the first 30 days that took me years to get back to,” he said. One of the new rehab therapies that was introduced to Marty was weight barring through his legs with the EasyStand Evolv.
After a spinal cord injury, it is not just about getting the body rehabbing; but also, the mind. For Marty, this meant changing his focus from to appreciating the small things in life. “After you get hurt, it’s like, ‘I want to walk again, I want to do all the big things…’ but it’s feeling that pain and submitting to it, it wears you down to where you start appreciating the small things.”
One of the small victories Marty has seen over these past 8 years since his injury is truck control and strengthening. This has been a focus in his therapy at Rogers A. Severson Fitness & Technology Center where he regularly uses the EasyStand Evolv for core strengthening exercises.
Success
After many small victories, Marty has increased his core strength, gained hand movement to be able to text by himself and has found feeling starting to come back; all of this while gaining confidence in himself to move on and build a new life.
One of Marty’s accomplishments is starting his own business. Marty O’Connor Creative Agency is a full service creative agency with services that include graphic design, photo/video and brand management. After the success of his “Relentless” film, Marty found a passion for telling stories and building brands. The mission statement at MOCA is “Transforming your ideas into digital designs, impactful products & compelling campaigns.”
Another major part of Marty’s success has been the Wheel Talks Podcast. This is a podcast dedicated to “Keeping it Wheel” by providing entertaining content built to inspire, educate and give him and co-host Sonny Kaesbauer’s unfiltered every day experiences. They cover a variety of topics from dating to living independently, and have well known guests on the podcast that bring other unique perspectives. This amplifies causes in the SCI community like For the Love of Parking.
Marty O’Connor Creative Agency
Marty’s full service creative agency dedicated to your growth and impact
Workout with the EasyStand Evolv
Marty working out with his EasyStand Evolv at the Rogers A. Severson Fitness & Technology Center
What’s on Marty’s EasyStand Evolv?
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