Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Schuh
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/12/2020
Story of Hope After Life-changing Accident (Schuh – 27 January 2020)
Speaker Shares Story of Hope After Life-changing Accident
Tasha Schuh speaks to students from Granton, Greenwood and Loyal high schools during an assembly Jan. 27 at Loyal High School. Schuh encouraged students with four things to help them on the PATH of life: purpose, attitude, team and hope. Valerie Brecht/Clark County Press
By Valerie Brecht
A step backward, then a terrifying fall – in just one moment, Tasha Schuh’s life was changed forever. However, what could have left her bitter and angry at life instead gave her a platform to inspire and encourage others.
“Some people have told me that they actually feel sorry for me. But please don’t. I love my life. I love this wheelchair. That’s something that I never thought I’d be able to say,” said Schuh, who is paralyzed from the chest down.
Schuh spoke to students in two sessions at Loyal High School Jan. 27. She spoke to Loyal fifth-through eighth-graders and then to high schoolers from Loyal, Granton and Greenwood. Schuh first shared how she came to be in a wheelchair. Growing up in her hometown of Ellsworth, Schuh was a “typical teenager,” she said. She enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball and loved music and theatre. Her junior year of high school, Schuh was part of her school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.” One of the scenes involved the use of a trap door. At rehearsal, someone had removed the cover off the trap door on stage without Schuh knowing. During a scene change, she was told to move out of the way, so she stepped backward and fell through the trap door.
“Utter confusion filled my mind as I landed in the basement of the theater on a hard and unforgiving cement floor. The end result was that I had fallen 16 feet. The back of my head was what smashed the cement floor first, followed by hearing the smashing of vertebrae. I had just broken my neck and severely crushed my spinal cord,” she said.
Schuh was airlifted to the hospital. As the doctors examined her, they talked about how she would be a quadriplegic and never walk again. Their words filled Schuh with despair.
“I was afraid for my future. I wanted to die. I wanted my life to end because I could not think of even one reason of why I would want to continue,” she said.
Three days later, Schuh almost got her wish. After a 16-hour neck surgery, her body began shutting down. Her internal temperature climbed to 108 degrees and she went into septic shock. The doctors gave her a zero percent chance of surviving the night, but she did. After eight harrowing days, Schuh finally regained consciousness.
“When I woke up and found out what I had been through, I knew I must be here for a purpose. It was a miracle that I was alive. That was when my perspective completely changed,” Schuh said.
Schuh was instilled with a sense of purpose, something she wanted to pass on to the students. Schuh said there were four things that that helped her on her “PATH” to resilience in life – purpose, attitude, team and hope. She told the students that each one of them is here for a purpose.
“Your life matters. You are so valuable. You are so important to our world. Our world needs you,” said Schuh. “Meaning and purpose can be found in giving your best each and every day.”
Schuh encouraged the students to embrace who they are.
“When I was growing up, by the time I was 15, I was almost six feet tall. And all of my friends were barely five feet tall. I always felt like I was a giraffe walking through the halls with my friends.. And I hated it so much,” said Schuh. “Well guess what? Now I’m short. And I wish I would have loved myself when I had my gift of being tall. So, I just want to encourage your today to love yourself, because we all have things that we went to change about ourselves, that we wish were different. But you’re never going to wake up and be somebody different. So, I want you to love yourself today and embrace who you are, and I want you to know that it’s OK to be different; that you have different gifts and talents. Focus on those things – the things that you’re good at, the things that you love to do – because that is where you find your purpose.”
Schuh continued her life story. After surviving the initial accident and surgery, she had a long road of rehabilitation ahead of her.. Doctors classified her as a C5 quadriplegic. A person is considered as quadriplegic if they have at least some paralysis in all four limbs.
Schuh’s fifth vertebra was the uppermost one broken, which means she has no movement or feeling from the chest down. Above her chest, Schuh can move her head, neck, shoulders and arms, but her fingers and triceps are paralyzed.
“I realized that I would never be able to get dressed on my own or even get out of bed on my own. As all of this was becoming a realization, I fell into a deep, dark depression,” Schuh said. “I would not wish this on my worst enemy. This was the hardest time of my life.”
To make matters worse, Schuh’s boyfriend who had promised to stay with her broke up with her, her parents’ marriage was falling apart, and her best friend only came to see her twice in her six months in the hospital. After Schuh returned home, she tried to find a “new normal,” but it was hard to accept. However, gradually Schuh’s outlook started to change.
During one therapy appointment, Schuh’s doctors became very excited when she made a knocking movement with her wrists. Based on her injury, they did not expect her to have that movement. Because of it, she is able to use a special splint to feed herself, write, put on makeup and do other tasks. Schuh began to realize there were a lot of things she still could do.
“The second thing I want to teach you is the power of attitude,” said Schuh. “I had been focusing so much on all that I had lost… When I learned about my wrists and began using the splint, I began to see how grateful I was. I started to write a gratitude list. I was grateful to be alive, grateful for my family, grateful for my wrist movement – I kept writing. As I began to shift my attitude, I began to see my life differently,”
Tasha Schuh signs a bookmark for a student who heard her speak at Loyal. Schuh, a quadriplegic, has used her tenodesis splint to sign thousands of autographs. Schuh has adopted the motto, “Yes, I can.” “You might have to do it differently, but you can still do it,” she told students. Valorie Brecht/Clark County Press
Schuh exhorted the students to maintain a positive attitude and choose to be grateful.
“The only thing we can control in life is our attitude,” she said.
The third thing that helped Schuh on her PATH to healing was a team. Schuh said there were many individuals that encouraged her to keep fighting. She was in the hospital roughly 160 days and only had two evenings with no company. She had people drive over 70 miles to come visit her. Schuh’s sister lost two jobs because she would not leave Schuh’s side.
Schuh said she had to learn to be OK with accepting help from others. She loves NASCAR and Formula I race and used the analogy of a pit crew in speaking about the importance of a team.
“The pit crew supports the driver. The driver would never say, ‘Crew, I don’t need you today,’” she said. “They would never do that, and yet as human beings, we do this all the time. We all need a pit crew. We need a team. We cannot do this race of life alone.”
Schuh best friend from high school had a son who committed suicide at the age of 14. This has made her all the more passionate about encouraging people to not do life alone and to reach out for help.
“If you’re struggling, please reach out and tell someone. Ask yourself, ‘Who is my pit crew?’ and ‘whose pit crew am I on?’” she said.
The final aspect of PATH that Schuh shared with students was hope. Along her path to recovery, Schuh said it was sometimes hard to hold onto hope.
“I honestly thought that this wheelchair was going to hold me back from accomplishing my dreams. … I was afraid for my future because I thought, ‘What good can come from my accident?’”
However, around the time Schuh was asking that question, she attended wheelchair camp. She saw hundreds of other people in wheelchairs, many of whom had gone on to get married, have children and accomplish remarkable goals. She began to have hope for a brighter future.
“In this world, there will be tragedies. I am in no position to tell you that life is going to be perfect. Life is hard at times. And yet having hope is so important. Because hope is having confidence that even though life is not fair or not easy, it’s worth it to hold on. Hope is having the courage to keep going,” Schuh explained.
“I have had many, many hopeless days, but if I had given up, I would have missed out on the best parts of my life.”
Schuh has gone on to accomplish more than she ever thought was possible. She graduated high school on time. She earned two bachelor’s degrees from Winona State University, one in communication studies and the other in theology, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. She has authored two books, “My Last Step Backward” and “My Next Move Forward.”
Tasha Schuh and her husband, Doug, of Ellsworth travel the country sharing Tasha’s story of hope and resilience in the midst of adversity. Valorie Brecht/Clark County Press
Schuh has been married to her husband, Doug, for six-and-a-half years. She travels the country as an inspirational speaker. Doctors told Schuh she wouldn’t be able to sing, but she proved them wrong. She has released recordings of two songs, including her original song, “Hope.” She drives her own van and has her own YouTube channel.
“When I was told I would never walk again, I thought my life was over. But today I see that it was just the beginning of a most blessed, amazing life – a life that I would not trade with anyone.” Said Schuh.
“Always hold on to hope.”
To find out more about Schuh, visit TashaSchuh.com. To receive weekly inspirational messages from Schuh, text PITCREW to 33222.
