“I don’t let my chair dictate my life.”
Dean Probyn lives his ‘One Life, One Decision’ motto every day since a car accident in 1990 left him a tetraplegic.
In 1993 the New Plymouth local took an opportunity to “pay-it-forward” and share his story by speaking to school children, clubs and groups around the country.
He took his “pay it forward” a step further in 2013 and contacted the American Military to offer his skills as a motivational and inspirational speaker sharing his daily life experiences with the wounded soldiers.
After seeing such successful results from his one talk the military now want him back for a longer period of time to reach more soldiers.
“I wanted to do something to just say ‘hey thank-you’ to the soldiers and see if I could help in anyway. I suppose it’s about paying it forward. I’ve been blessed with friends, family, good mates and a good life. So I got in touch with the American Military and got clearance to go in and give a talk.”
“I don’t pretend to understand what they’ve been through. I talk to them about what I went through and what helped me get through things. Your family, your friends, your mates, they are all important to you. You have to be willing to talk about things because that helps.”