episode twenty-eight
I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again – Jared Ward
episode twenty-eight
Sometimes life throws you a curveball. Something you weren’t expecting, and it’s all up to you to figure out how you’re going to handle it. You can wallow, deciding that it’s too much and you’re going to stay on the ground, or you can attack it head on and do everything you can to overcome whatever situation you’ve been put in.
episode twenty-eight
On July 1st, 2012, Jared Ward was riding his motorcycle when he got into a major accident. He hit two bumps in the road and skidded across two lanes. It seemed to happen in slow motion. Life flashed before his eyes. When he snapped back to reality, he realized he was in trouble. He had a dislocated clavicle, broken wrist, and cracked ribs. 50% to 60% of his body was covered in road rash. He ended up spending 19 days in a level one trauma center ICU, where doctors told him that he would need help just to walk. He was constantly in and out of surgery.
The crash flipped a switch in him- he went from off to on. Sitting in the hospital, he knew his perspective and mindset was about to be challenged, and he rose to overcome this obstacle.
the guest
On July 1st, 2012, Jared was riding his motorcycle when he got into a major accident. He hit two bumps in the road and skidded across two lanes. It seemed to happen in slow motion. Life flashed before his eyes. When he snapped back to reality, he realized he was in trouble. He had a dislocated clavicle, broken wrist, and cracked ribs. 50% to 60% of his body was covered in road rash. He ended up spending 19 days in a level one trauma center ICU, where doctors told him that he would need help just to walk. He was constantly in and out of surgery.
A lot of us would just stop there. That’s way more than a curveball. But not Jared. The crash flipped a switch in him- he went from off to on. Sitting in the hospital, he knew his perspective and mindset was about to be challenged, and he rose to overcome this obstacle. He was always into fitness, and he knew he’d have a lot of challenges to get past, but he wasn’t going to be deterred.
Life tried to take some abilities away from Jared. But his mindset, perspective, and persistence weren’t going to let that happen without a fight. He had never really been into endurance workouts before the crash, but, as some sort of ironic twist, when the doctor said he couldn’t walk, he decided he would run. Something in him had clicked. His motivation to continue his fitness journey had only increased. And then, just four months after doctors told him he would need help to walk, he completed his first 5k. Since then, he has completed countless half marathons, tough mudders, the Chicago Marathon twice, and a century ride on a bike
And he wasn’t done there. He worked at the gym as a fitness supervisor in college and went on to earn his Masters of Accountancy at the top of his class at University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and was greeted with a ton of opportunities. He took a job at Baker Tilly, where he quickly rose the ranks, before leaving to take another chance at a private equity firm.
