What does a dream look like when life forces you to reimagine it? For Em Carey, the answer raised over $110,000 for research that could one day give people back what they’ve lost.
Em Carey was 20 years old, five days into a European holiday she had been dreaming about for years, when a skydiving accident over the Swiss Alps changed her life in an instant. The parachute malfunctioned. The descent was too fast. And when she landed face down in the dirt with an unconscious instructor strapped to her back, she tried to roll him off and discovered she couldn’t move her legs.
Em’s story is nothing short of extraordinary.
The Dream That Refused to Die
Long before her accident, Em had always wanted to run a marathon. It was a childhood dream, one she kept quietly setting aside, assuming there would be more time. When her spinal cord injury took running off the table, it took the marathon with it.
Years later, a thought surfaced that she couldn’t shake. “I sure can’t run, but I can walk. And I’m so, so lucky to walk.” She had no idea if she could cover the marathon distance on foot. But she asked herself a question that has since inspired thousands of people: why shouldn’t she try, just because the dream looked different to how she’d first imagined it?
And she did more than try. She walked the full marathon distance. It took nine hours and just as she crossed the finish line, her sister called out that they had just passed the $100,000 fundraising mark.
$111,925 and 1,692 Reasons to Believe
Em didn’t just walk for herself. She walked for every person who understands what it means to be paralysed and for the hope that one day, that might change.
The response from the community was staggering. A total of 1,692 individual donations came through, with the final tally reaching $111,925. All directed to the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation to support the research and scholarship of PhD candidate Molly Griffith.
“That’s something I never dreamed of being able to help someone do,” Em said. “I just feel so lucky and so thankful.”
The Research That Will Change Lives
Molly Griffith is currently completing her PhD exploring sex differences in spinal cord injury, an area of research that is as important as it is underexplored.
“Just having the opportunity to show that sex matters even in this really niche context is really important,” Molly explains, “because if it matters in this context, then it probably matters everywhere else.”
Working at the intersection of discovery and community, Molly sees the human stories behind the science, people who have broken their backs and keep going anyway, driven by passion and an unshakeable belief that things can get better.
“Everyone is very optimistic about the research,” she says. “The morale in general is high, even when it’s difficult.”
For Molly, Em’s contribution is deeply personal.
“I’m so grateful for Em Carey to contribute to the Perry Cross Foundation and to my scholarship. Finding a treatment for spinal cord injury is so important, I get to see how much it means to everyone that the funding is going towards this.”
What One Passionate Person Can Do
Em Carey’s story isn’t just about a marathon. It’s about what happens when one person decides that their experience, however painful, however different from what they planned, can be turned into something that helps others.
She didn’t have a corporate sponsor. She didn’t have a large organisation behind her. She had a dream that looked a little different than it used to, and a deep sense of gratitude for what she could do.
Could You Do Something Bold?
You don’t have to walk a marathon. You don’t have to climb a mountain or swim across a bay. But if Em’s story has moved you, and it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t, consider what bold thing you might be able to do in support of the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation.
Every dollar raised gets Molly, and researchers like her, closer to the treatments and breakthroughs that will one day give people back what a spinal cord injury took from them.
As Em herself put it: “Whatever it is that people enjoy doing, that they’re no longer able to do because of their disability, those are the kind of opportunities I hope everyone can someday have.”
That someday depends on research and that research depends on people like you.
Em Carey is a bestselling author, speaker, and advocate. Her memoir, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, is available now. Learn more about her story at emcarey.com
