After a life-changing automobile accident, Dan Wischnewski has chosen not to allow the pain to outline his existence.
Wischnewski, now a speaker and published creator, became born and raised in Winnipeg. On May 15, Wischnewski becomes on his way to a work meeting: “I changed into driving south on 206 and Garven Road intersects with it. What befell become, there had been two fellas driving the truck, they blew the prevent signal and that they hit me at one hundred kilometers-plus-an-hour.”
The father of three suffered a punctured lung, damaged knee, broken leg, broken hips, damaged shoulder, and extra injuries.
“I become trapped in that vehicle for about 70 mins,” says Wischnewski. “Those men were operating so hard to get me out – an ordinary extraction takes about half-hour. I become so wedged into the car that it took that long to get me out.”
Wischnewski’s fiancee, on time, received the call from RCMP about his coincidence. Still, his stepdaughter had already visible a picture of the twist of fate on the network Facebook web page from witnesses.
Wischnewski had long passed thru one type of recuperation earlier. “For about two decades, I suffered from a cocaine dependancy,” says Wischnewski, “I was in and out of different recuperation applications all through the one’s years and not anything regarded to paintings for me, so I wrote my personal recovery software, and that’s how I got easy.
“The difference before, when I was in my addiction, I had such a lot of near-dying stories – self-brought on. … Since I grew to become my life around I’ve got a stunning spouse, I love my son who is 11-years-antique, I even have my stepdaughters who I love. … This is absolutely different for me.”
Wischnewski says, “It’s the sort of long procedure. I’ve got every other year before I get to, maybe, 80 percent of what I turned into.”
The ache, Wischnewski says, became nearly insufferable whilst in Critical Care. He could barely flow without screaming. Despite the ache, Wischnewski became now not going to let his lifestyles forestall.
“I had two major dreams,” says Wischnewski. “One, my stepdaughter was graduating from Nursing, so my purpose changed into to be fit sufficient that the medical institution could permit me to go on a -day pass to Brandon. I was given a little bit of physiotherapy there. However, I skilled plenty in my mattress. … They gave me a few exercises to achieve this. I did them nonstop because I became no longer going to allow my stepdaughter down.
“My 2nd huge aim changed into with the intention to stroll a little bit and stand for our bridal ceremony – which I turned into capable of doing.”
Wischnewski says it wasn’t clean. However, he fulfilled each guarantee. On August 10, Wischnewski stood to get married to Tracy in front of all their pals and own families.
Despite his accomplishments, Wischnewski becomes nevertheless in pain: “The ache becomes so remarkable for the first three months and then on July 1st … I decided that I just can not live like this anymore due to the fact I can not have pain owning my existence. So I determined proper there, and then I’m now not going to have pain anymore.”
Since then, Wischnewski’s lifestyle has now not stopped: “So, I still sense it, I just do not let it manage me.” He goes to his son’s football games, takes his wife out on dates, and works closer to being wholesome once more.
“When you feel love like that, it simply offers you power.”
“My family has been there each step of the way,” says Wischnewski, who credits his restoration and mental power to his cherished ones.
Wischnewski says, “I could be capable of surviving any of these studies. However, I by no means might be capable of – physically I could, but in my heart, it’d had been so difficult to do this by myself.”
“Obviously, it is now not something I desired to occur, but so many excellent things have come from it. It’s introduced my family closer than we ever have been, and we were already close.”