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The Ultimate Learning Experience: A young man's journey through the choices of life
From Tragedy to Triumph
Chris Skinner’s journey to maturity was marked by choices. His decisions would result in a tragedy to challenge even the most determined individual.
In June 2000, after a night of drinking with his fraternity brothers, the party ended in a near-fatal automobile accident. Chris woke from a coma two weeks later to find that he faced life as a quadriplegic. It was a defining moment in his life and as a result, Chris Skinner gained a new perspective and focus.
Today, Chris rolls around with a smile on his face and a word of encouragement for everyone he meets. As a full-time speaker, he delivers a message of positive decision-making. He shares his insights on overcoming adversities and negative influences in every facet of life. His goal is to help people of all ages avoid bad choices, including alcohol and substance abuse.
Put your own experience into perspective with Chris’ message. He challenges you to work through adversity, make positive choices, and achieve your goals. Instead of a tragic accident, make the defining moment in your life the day you met Chris Skinner.
Chris Skinner’s journey to maturity was marked by choices. His decisions would result in a tragedy to challenge even the most determined individual.
In June 2000, after a night of drinking with his fraternity brothers, the party ended in a near-fatal automobile accident. Chris woke from a coma two weeks later to find that he faced life as a quadriplegic. It was a defining moment in his life and as a result, Chris Skinner gained a new perspective and focus.
Today, Chris rolls around with a smile on his face and a word of encouragement for everyone he meets. As a full-time speaker, he delivers a message of positive decision-making. He shares his insights on overcoming adversities and negative influences in every facet of life. His goal is to help people of all ages avoid bad choices, including alcohol and substance abuse.
Put your own experience into perspective with Chris’ message. He challenges you to work through adversity, make positive choices, and achieve your goals. Instead of a tragic accident, make the defining moment in your life the day you met Chris Skinner.
254 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2004
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7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 30, 2021
Wonderful story, what a true inspiration Chris was too many people and his story will continue to touch many lives ! His courage and ability to inspire others is a gift from God that he used in multitudes. May God continue to bless his family and hold them in the palm of His hands as He now holds Chris. ❤️🙏
August 4, 2024
The choices in our lives have consequences. Bad choices can leave you dead, or in Chris Skinner’s situation, a quadriplegic.
Chris was just a college kid who liked to party – drink and take drugs and hang out with his fraternity brothers. He was a smart kid, but did poorly at school, because he was more interested in having a good time than studying. He was a good-looking kid and liked meeting girls too and just having a good time. He wasn’t hurting anyone, but himself, really, for his grades were suffering and his drinking and drugs were getting out-of-hand. One night after getting drunk at a wedding reception, he took a ride home from a friend, who was also drunk. Chris took off his seat belt as he was chewing tobacco and wanted to be able to spit it from the window. Suddenly the driver lost control of the car. The car crashed and overturned, and the next thing, Chris finds himself in the hospital with a broken spinal cord in his neck. Chris never does mention what kind of amends he has made with the driver, if any.
Nonetheless, Chris writes about his life in college leading up to the accident and his life dealing with his situation at the hospital, and in rehab, and afterwards. He became interested in the church which helped him to stop drinking, since he still would drink some after his accident. He also became a motivational speaker, telling kids at colleges to think about their consequences before they make poor choices that could ruin their lives and/or possibly others. Chris had a lot of support from his mother and his siblings, particularly his sister, which helped give him the push to survive his ordeal.
His accident happened in June 2000. I googled him to see what he is up to now and unfortunately found that passed away in September 2021, when he was 40, from asphyxiation due to drowning after being discovered in a neighborhood pool in South Carolina where he lived with his wife, son, and daughter.
Copyrighted in 2004, what I liked about his book is Chris’ honesty. He doesn’t make excuses for what happened to him. He mentions his immediate denial, depression and frustration in his limitations after his injury, and I am glad that once he started to adjust to his new life, he made it his mission to try and encourage others not to drive intoxicated. I live in a college town and if Chris were alive today, I would try to see if somehow the college could provide funding for Chris to come talk to these students. He might also remind them how serious it is not to text and drive as well. Lyft is very popular in my town and I have encouraged students myself that if they are drinking and cannot get a designated non-drinking driver, to be sure to arrange for some transportation or use a Lyft – since unfortunately public transportation is very limited in my Texas town. Everyone thinks, “Well, nothing bad will happen to me,” but it might.
I am sorry for Chris’ short life of 40 years, but it sounds like, within his last approximately twenty years, he certainly tried to make the best of it.
Chris was just a college kid who liked to party – drink and take drugs and hang out with his fraternity brothers. He was a smart kid, but did poorly at school, because he was more interested in having a good time than studying. He was a good-looking kid and liked meeting girls too and just having a good time. He wasn’t hurting anyone, but himself, really, for his grades were suffering and his drinking and drugs were getting out-of-hand. One night after getting drunk at a wedding reception, he took a ride home from a friend, who was also drunk. Chris took off his seat belt as he was chewing tobacco and wanted to be able to spit it from the window. Suddenly the driver lost control of the car. The car crashed and overturned, and the next thing, Chris finds himself in the hospital with a broken spinal cord in his neck. Chris never does mention what kind of amends he has made with the driver, if any.
Nonetheless, Chris writes about his life in college leading up to the accident and his life dealing with his situation at the hospital, and in rehab, and afterwards. He became interested in the church which helped him to stop drinking, since he still would drink some after his accident. He also became a motivational speaker, telling kids at colleges to think about their consequences before they make poor choices that could ruin their lives and/or possibly others. Chris had a lot of support from his mother and his siblings, particularly his sister, which helped give him the push to survive his ordeal.
His accident happened in June 2000. I googled him to see what he is up to now and unfortunately found that passed away in September 2021, when he was 40, from asphyxiation due to drowning after being discovered in a neighborhood pool in South Carolina where he lived with his wife, son, and daughter.
Copyrighted in 2004, what I liked about his book is Chris’ honesty. He doesn’t make excuses for what happened to him. He mentions his immediate denial, depression and frustration in his limitations after his injury, and I am glad that once he started to adjust to his new life, he made it his mission to try and encourage others not to drive intoxicated. I live in a college town and if Chris were alive today, I would try to see if somehow the college could provide funding for Chris to come talk to these students. He might also remind them how serious it is not to text and drive as well. Lyft is very popular in my town and I have encouraged students myself that if they are drinking and cannot get a designated non-drinking driver, to be sure to arrange for some transportation or use a Lyft – since unfortunately public transportation is very limited in my Texas town. Everyone thinks, “Well, nothing bad will happen to me,” but it might.
I am sorry for Chris’ short life of 40 years, but it sounds like, within his last approximately twenty years, he certainly tried to make the best of it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews