Stephen Murray Research Paper

Stephen Murray 's Life And His Impact On The Sport Of BMX

The purpose of my essay is to inform the reader of Stephen Murray’s story on his life and how even though he has been paralyzed from the neck down he is still a positive person. It is also to inform about Stephen 's organization “STAY STRONG”, and how it has helped other bmx riders in similar situations. I plan to discuss Stephen Murray 's life before and after his accident and the technology that helps him live, and his impact on Action Sports.

The Rise of Stephen Murray and his life before he became a pro bmx rider. Stephen Murray started riding bmx race right before he was 3. When he first started riding freestyle dirt bmx he had crashed many time and broke a ton of bones. (Mason) “Yeah… 2 broken clavicles, 1 broken shoulder blade, 2 broken legs, 1 broken scaffoid bone, 1 broken wrist I think that’s it isn’t it? I broke my thumb as well. (mason). Stephen Murray

At the bmx dirt finals Stephen Murray attempted a double backflip and landed on his neck breaking many of the vertebrae in his neck, this almost killed him.(Murray) “Stephen was transported to University of Maryland Medical Centre Shock Trauma Unit. He had flat lined in the ambulance and again after reaching Shock Trauma, where medication was administered to bring him back. Undergoing the first of two 7 hour surgeries, Doctors confirmed Stephen had crushed his 3, 4 and 5 cervical vertebrae” (Carrera). The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, he had to spent a lot of time in the hospital and had a lot of obstacles to overcome. Stephen had lost all of his personal freedom taken away. He now needs help to complete simple tasks like changing his clothes and going to the bathroom. The double backflip is what made Stephen famous and it is what almost ended him, his life was drastically changed when that double back flip went terribly wrong.