We're celebrating my
14-year Anniversary Alive Day. It's very special. In celebration of 14-years
of survival. And... It's pretty significant. I'm stoked about it.
Yeah. In about a week it
will be his Alive Day. And that's what he's chosen
to call the Anniversary of his accident. It's his Alive Day because he got
to be alive instead of dead. Which could have
gone either way. And I think it's kind of his Alive Day
because it's his rebirth. Part of Cameron's thing is that
he was really reborn on that day. His body changed,
his attitude, his outlook on life changed, physically and mentally. I have all the necessities, all
the tools that I use everyday. My X3 knees, my sockets
that fit around the limb. And my arm... My conventional everyday
prosthetic arm. And these are my everyday
walking legs, called the X3, there's a
6-7 day battery life. I drive my car
with these. No hand controls, just
a regular vehicle. Silicon lining, the liner goes
over my arm like that. So this is a type of suspension,
how it's suspended from the body. This little sock goes over
to keep from sticking. So, this pin on the end
of the liner it's going to lock down
inside of this arm, right here. And this is the harness
with the cable, so that's how I
move my elbow. Or if I have it locked
that's how I open the hook. When I shrug my shoulder
it unlocks it or locks it in place. So, when it's locked then
I have the control of the hook. I pull the legs on and the
legs will be held on by suction. I need to get my weight up
and over on the knees. If I had one leg I
would just stand up, put my weight into the
leg and pull it on. But because I'm missing
both of my legs... I need to get onto knees, so
I just cross my legs like this... I make sure that I have my valves. And I'm going to kick over. Get onto my knees like this. So then I'm on my knees. You can see my skin right here. I put the valve in there Now I can get myself up. And I'm good to go. I remember the first time I put
on my legs totally on my own. I had to figure it out
by myself. I just had to process the
trial and error and figure out how
it worked. It took over 30 minutes just
to get on one socket. It's been 14 years and I'm doing
more than I possibly could've ever imagined. Even before when I had
all my legs and arms. The police came to our
door in the middle of the night, so it was pretty horrific. And... It's really hard for me to
think about that scene. And... And then going
to the hospital. I think that... Well Bill says... So it must have happened, the Chaplain came in to
comfort us... because we were going
to lose our son. Getting hit by a train,
drunk at 15 years old... that was instantly the
biggest challenge of my life. Everyday having to live
as a triple amputee, yeah that's a challenge. Are they still challenges? I don't know, I mean,
I just like to think that it's part of my story and
we all have our own story. The prosthetist, who is the one
who make the prostheses, instead of having any kind
of hope for Cameron he just told us, "Cameron is
just not going to walk." We were in the doctor's office
looking at the magazines and there's an article about a boy who has both of his arms but, he's missing both of his
legs above the knee. He's swimming and rock climbing,
he's just doing stuff. And we said to this guy,
"What about this kid?" Who happens his name was Rudy. We were like, "What about this kid?" And the guy says to us,
"Oh, Rudy, he's one in a million." We were like, "Really? Buh Bye." And we left and we never
went back to him. And then we just started doing tons
of research to found out who would see Cameron as,
you know, as potential... and not as like, you know, "You're not going
to walk so don't even try." When I first saw Cameron, I
evaluated him and said to myself, here's a kid with
guts, energy and drive. How did they make out
this kid is not going to walk again? In fact I said, "Cameron literally within
hours we can have you up and going." So we got working with him and
that evening he walked out of our office. And he's never been in
a wheelchair since. I was amazed with him. A gutsy young kid
did absolutely awesome. First it was really hard and there
was a lot of frustration and struggle. I melted down, I was overwhelmed
and I would cry. I wiped the tears
from my face. But I never stay
in a deep dark depression. I would always pick myself back
up with positive energy. What am I going to do, focus on my goal and
eventually I'd get there. I was able to transform
from a train wreck into an athlete of
multiple sports. Cameron pushing boundaries
that's like his whole life. But this was a whole new world. A world of amputees and prosthetics. And then once he learned how to walk,
they said, "What else do you want to do?" "Do you want to run?" Okay, "Let's get you running." "What else do you
want to do?" "Walk up
and down the stairs?" "Okay let's do that." I was raising the bar, I was pushing
the edge of the envelope of what a bilateral above the knee
amputee had ever done. Like walking down stairs without
holding onto a hand-railing. Just step-over-step. Whoa! We did it! Cameron works hard
at doing what he does, but he pushes us
even harder. His expectations
are very very high. So he has helped us
pioneer new concepts. Stuff like sockets, how the prosthetic
device interfaces with his body. He comes up with ideas on how to
make it more flexible, more dynamic. Areas inside of the socket that
as his walking and running his muscles can fire into the
various compartments that he can be very active
with the prosthetic device. So he pushes us and
as a result he has helped, i would say literally,
thousands of other prosthetic users in the United States and around the world
to be very successful with their prosthetics. The hill kind of starts over there
we don't have to drive we just walk up there
and run up. Do a couple sprints up
and run down. I have an immense amount of
gratitude for my family because all that we've
been through. So my return is to participate
in the half marathon and to show that, hey I've
been able to make it, you know... this is who I am today and I couldn't
have done it without your help. And to run side by side
with my sister is going to be pretty
amazing experience. Okay... So, I'm going to switch to
my running legs here. This is a carbon fiber running
foot with a 3S80 running knee. It's specifically designed
for running. So, I'll just pop it on, and I'm just gonna tigthen these set screws socket and... get them nice and tigth There you go. That little part you just flip
it up and now it's locked. Does this part rotate
inside here? No. Your regular legs have a
computer chip for a knee right? Exactly. These ones are
hydrolics? Yep hydrolics. As soon as that knee flexes
it's going to swing forward instantly. So it's going to be
there for you. The only time I ever fall
is when I get lazy and I catch my toe
and I just trip. Then my foot will not come forward
because I catch my toe on something. And then, boom I'm down. Runners will tell you like, when you, you know,
you have your 'runner's high' or wherever, you get into like, a rhythm and definitely after a few miles
you kind of lose yourself. With Cameron, his mind
has to be thinking about every step for hours,
which has got to be hard. I mean, kind of run to get away
and to not think, and... Cameron, I think
it takes a lot of thinking. I do enjoy the running, however I'm thinking about,
you know, the technical part of it, the techniques, what's going
on underneath me, if I'm doing all of the preparation
so then I'm not chaffing my skin, and getting breakdowns,
there's a lot to think about. But ultimately I get to a place
where I'm just running and I have that rhythm and I'm just,
I'm in the zone and in my element. And I'm thinking really
positive thoughts. I've got to take
care of something. You've got to take
care of some business? Yeah. Should I turn around? Nah I've just got
to drain some fluid. Oh yeah that
felt amazing. That felt pretty good. Game on! The weather's starting to cool
down a bit, it feels good. On the way to see the family at my
mother and father's for brunch. And I'm super stoked everyone's
getting together, reuniting. My mom is such
a tough lady, and she has got so much love
for all of us kids. All of her children. And she just exudes
love for us. My mom has been very
tolerating of all my bullcrap. And all of my shenanigans and me
being a hooligan growing up. And she is damn resilient. Wooh! Here we are, home
sweet home! I never saw any point in eating
three bowls of spaghetti. But I get some carbs and just drink a lot
of water and eat your veggies. That's about it. I'm on the egg department.
Eggs-ellent! He doesn't have that
overachiever personality where he's got to be better than
everybody else in everything he does. But he just has a drive to do the
things that he likes to do. It's hard for me to comprehend
that he can actually run 13.1 miles. Yeah I mean, a mile is like insane,
like really you can do that? I love you mom. He doesn't have anything
to prove to anybody. He doesn't have anything
to prove to his family. We all love him. And he's more than proven himself
to us a million times over. Not that he ever had
to but he has. He wants people to perceive
him as capable, but that's always been his goal
since his accident, that he is capable
in the world. At the beginning of his recovery
when he was younger, so much of the purpose
was physical, now he's building up
his insides because that allows him to
give to other people. And that's what
he's all about. He's being able to give
to other people. And now he has also
an extra purpose in his life. Not only is he
living his life, he is living his life in honor
of his brother Jesse. To our family, to life and to
the marathon tomorrow. Maybe it'll be a good half
marathon, Camille. My brother is with me in
every fiber of my makeup, no matter where I go
or what I do. Because not only am I like an
exact duplicate model and creation of my brother being
identical twins. So we're one in the same,
we shared a womb together. We were born and we
were brought up. But also in that spiritual sense,
in my heart and in my soul he's always there with me and
that gives me some comfort, and really gives me
a peace of mind. Cameron and Jesse were very fun,
active... popular hooligans. Very sweet and generous
boys both of them. But they did like to live life on
the edge, those two. Both boys struggled with... substance abuse and... that's
what caused Cameron's accident. Or led up to Cameron's accident. And... So Jesse definitely struggled with
that and it was hard for him, you know. And unfortunately that's the
way things turned out for Jesse. I know deep down inside
in my heart, in my soul that my brother Jesse,
my twin brother, did exactly his part
in my life story. And I am forever gravely
indebted to his service to me. Because I wouldn't know that
true brotherhood and love that two twins, twin brothers have,
without that experience. Now... I could've been a lot
better of an example in other respects in regards
to my own decisions. Of course, you know... Did I portray a good example
in my rehabilitation as a multiple amputee and learning how
to walk and become independent? Yes, I was great at that. But it didn't mean that I
made other good choices. I made a lot of mistakes, I'm
not perfect nobody is. But I've learnt a lot and I've absolutely
changed a lot since my brother passed away. And that's another part of why I'm
grateful for where I'm at now because I've learned
so much from him. I've learned that if I live that
lifestyle I'm no better than dead. I almost died and I'm lucky
because I have a second chance. I've lost three limbs but it's an opportunity
now I can learn from my mistakes. I don't have to repeat that cycle
of destructive behavior that's going to eventually kill
me like it did my brother. And so, he in turn saved my life,
I wasn't able to do that for him. All that I've been through, I
couldn't do that for him. But, god damn it, he can do
it for me. Okay, that is why my brother
is so important to my life story. There's nothing more
that I can do but live a life absolutely
to it's fullest. And to make good decisions
and not waste my life. How are you feeling
about tomorrow? I'm a little bit nervous but
I'm really excited. Are you mentally there,
are you physically there? Yeah I'm mentally there,
physically I'm prepared. A good way to celebrate
my "Ampuversary." In the amputee world we
call it "Ampuversary." The "Ampuversary"? But that's my Alive Day. It's absolutely something
to celebrate life. You know, personally, for me it's
been a process... and... after my accident I had a lot of
guilt and shame for myself because I had caused
such turmoil in our family. And having the family witness
what I went through and have such an emotional
trauma for everybody... I know that was painful. And so, for me to have
this opportunity now, to have really come so far
from that point in time. This is a healing process
for me. Sister: Everybody feels guilt. You can't live your life thinking
about the "what-ifs." Everybody, you, me and mom, everybody, has to stop
thinking about the "what-ifs" and just live your life. And kind of let go, it's in the past,
you can't change what happened. But you can change who you are
now and just move forward, and continue on. Yeah everyday is a new day. And absolutely that's what Jesse
always told me. He said, "You know what, no matter what
tomorrow, the sun will rise again..." "and we're guaranteed
it's a new day." I always remember that. Today we have 1652 participants
and we have 17 different countries. Give a big round of applause for the
crazy people running the full marathon. In the beginning I
was nervous. I haven't run that much distance
races with Cameron. There's so much stuff going on,
we didn't even get to the crowd until 5:59am When the gun went off at 6am
we were just barely ready to go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Good luck everybody! Everything went smooth,
everybody loved seeing him, he got a lot of props from
runners and from spectators. He's really slow up hill
but then, when he hits a down hill I can barely keep up with
him, he's really fast. Running next to him for
two hours and 45 minutes, I think you get a really good grasp of
like, wow this is his life, like every second
of every day. You know what I mean. Just being side by side listening
to him and feeling his vibes. Everything that he's having to do
to run that we take for granted. It just really reminded me, wow this is his
life and it's pretty difficult. And being right next to him doing that
whole thing, just reminded me of that. We're about two
hours right now. We've got about
three miles to go. A little bit more than that. I'm covered in sweat. There's people in the community spraying with hoses
cooling us down. Passing out apple, bananas
and water. It's really hard for him to
walk, he's got to run. Here let's go. Hold on. Alright we've got
to run. We're just standing here walking. Cameron thanks every single
person that hands him water, he thanks every single person. He waves and acknowledges everybody
on the side of the road that's cheering for us. He aknowledges every person. He's like a some personal Messiah,
he just says, "Blessings" to everybody. Thank you for your support! He's just really thankful
and really aware of everybody that's encouraging him. His whole life, his whole hard
work and dedication, you know... he goes around the world and
mentors kids, mentors adults. His whole life is
a challenge. He doesn't have to do this
kind of challenge but he takes it on himself. My muscles are fatiguing
right now. I've got to push through. I for sure learn to not
sweat the small stuff because there are definitely
harder challenges do deal with. - Thank you. - Good job man. It definitely makes you feel like you have
somewhat of a purpose... to brighten people's day or
give them good attitude. - I'm so happy it's done! - Woohoo! Maybe they're hung up on
pretty little things... that really in the big picture
is not a big deal. And they see me and it just
changes their whole attitude. Really what the perspective is in life
to live life to the fullest. I came out here and everybody
is pushing themselves to the limits. And that's what I
love about it.
