Anthony Chavez
Anthony Chavez, 36, previously lived his life from the perspective of about 15 feet in the air, generally descending towards the water at some point to land his next great trick on a wakeboard. Now, Anthony propels himself on ground-level and is ascending towards his next big trick of walking away from his wheelchair. As a previous professional wake boarder, Anthony has a mentality that will not let him stop until he reaches his next big trick, but if he ever need any more motivation he has an incredible family to fall back onto of great parents, a supportive wife Amanda, and two sons Parker (8) and Greyson (2).
It wasn’t too long ago that Anthony was soaring 15 feet through the air on his wakeboard, until he got injured on August 27, 2017 diving into a swimming pool in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Anthony was quickly medevaced to University Medical Center in Las Vegas where he would spend 10 days in ICU. Then he was transferred to St. Josephs Hospital in Phoenix for rehabilitation where he would spend seven weeks in inpatient care. Shortly after he got out of rehabilitative care, he sought out The Perfect Step and entered into the TPS program in March 2018. Ever since he started in the program, his recovery was taken to new heights.
Is his own words: “TPS has been far greater than what I even expected, which was initially even a high expectation. No kidding, even the first day of the evaluation had me hooked on their methodology and their approach towards reaching clients goals. The relationships and the networking that I have been able to build and maintain here with the trainers and clients has allowed me to find a home away from home.”
While Anthony saw many initial benefits in terms of his mentality and confidence, he has also seen increased strength, coordination, function, and the ability to transfer on his own. All of this has correlated to more independence at home and has allowed for a better relationship and bonding between him and his kids while being a father.
“The initial stages of my accident tore me up because I was challenged with finding ways to connect with my kids in the way that I wanted to be a guiding light and a hands on father with them. But, now we have connected in different ways through playing basketball, video games, and of course our passion for being on the lake. I feel like I am now more engaged as a father than ever before.“
As a current boat salesman for Sun Country Marine in Lake Havasu City, Anthony is still on his adult grind to maintain stability in the household and to be financially supportive of his family even through the midst of his own every day recovery and struggles. However, Anthony relies on his supportive family to provide him with the care that he needs at home and to get him to and from therapy. He believes that they have been the true blessing in all of this. Anthony commutes four hours from Lake Havasu City to Claremont once a week to receive his high performance care at TPS.
“I don’t even think twice about the drive to get to therapy because I know how it is benefiting me. I need it. It has given me the confidence at home to try things that I wouldn’t normally, like standing and grabbing things in the kitchen, or more recently getting better control of my blood pressure which allows me to stand longer and to be outside in the desert heat longer to sell boats.”
In the short term, Anthony hopes to get more function back in his right leg and in the long term he hopes to be back on his feet even if it means having an assistive device to get him to where he needs to go on his feet again.
“I feel tremendously lucky to have gotten back what I have gone back at this point, but now I know I need to get back on my high horse to try and get back to those things in life that I was passionate about it; starting up my eBay business again of selling JetSki parts, increasing connections for boat sales, and even eventually flipping homes.”
Anthony feels as if his time at TPS has given him a newfound purpose again because of the networking that he has been able to do. “I have a voice where I can impact people through words and actions and where I can help others to keep them on the right path. My advice to the newly injured would be to stay positive and focus on what you do have rather than what you don’t.”
