New Bedford Man Overcomes Horrific Fall to Push Wheelchair on Acushnet Avenue

On the day Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, New Bedford's Paul Morrison had the unthinkable happen to him. He was unable to cast a vote in the election due to a freak sequence of events.

Amazon had just delivered a new hoverboard to the split level ranch where Paul was living. He unpacked it, and took it for a ride on the second floor. He was struggling to catch his balance. The 36-year-old had never used a hoverboard before. Paul decided to get off of the hoverboard when it slipped from underneath him. He went crashing through the wooden banister and fell from the second floor onto the tile stairs leading up from the basement, cracking his spinal cord.

Morrison was home alone. He couldn't move. His body began to shiver and shake after a couple of hours as it began to go into shock. Paul Morrison thought he was going to die. "I used the blood from my brain to write 'I love you' on the wall to my wife and daughter," Morrison told Fun 107.

Before the accident, Morrison weighed 250 pounds. He described himself as overweight. As he slowly recovered from his accident, he decided that he needed to maintain some level of fitness and health in his life. He was lucky to be alive, and he wanted to celebrate it. He had a new lease on life.

Instead of getting an automatic wheelchair, Paul decided that a manual wheelchair, one that you push, was the right wheelchair for him. He decided he needed to get outside, and began to push his wheelchair around the neighborhood. He'd train and train, pushing his way along the city streets of New Bedford. Eventually, Paul built himself up to a place where he was going on 5-mile wheelchair trips. Each of the trips was powered by nothing but his arms.

When Paul hit the 5-mile mark, he decided to get himself a GoPro and mount it to his wheelchair. Paul recorded one of his 5-mile rides up Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. He put his adventure to some hot EDM beats, and we thought it was pretty great and went perfectly with the soundtrack. Paul says he's making the videos to inspire others, to showcase his video editing ability, and to eventually focus on gaining more accessibility for disabled people in and around the SouthCoast.

Above is Paul Morrison's epic 5-mile wheelchair ride. How many familiar spots can you pick out?