When Ryan Spangler of Maumee was injured in a car accident in 2022, he lost his mobility — and hope.
“I was rehabbing the house on the north end of Toledo. It was Nov. 28 and my truck was acting up a little bit, so one of my laborers that worked for me said that his sister and boyfriend lived around the corner and they would give me a ride,” he said.
At 6 feet, Mr. Spangler recalled having to sit sideways in the back seat of the compact Chevy Cruze.
“It was snowing a little bit that night. I was only about two blocks away from being dropped [off], then somebody was at a complete stop to turn into a gas station, and the people that I was with rear ended them,” he said.
“And boom, it just happened,” Mr. Spangler said. “I never even saw it coming.”
The accident resulted in a broken neck in three places. The life-altering incomplete spinal cord injury left him wheelchair-dependent.
“Two years ago, he was laying in that bed, and he was begging me to end it for him,” said his wife, Lauren Godlewski. “And two years later, he’s excited to turn it around.”