A Fall to Life

By Nina Elias Photography by Ben Addonizio

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On a warm August night in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Greg Callen, then 29, drunkenly stumbled to the roof of a friend’s house for a cigarette. Seconds later, Callen was on the ground, 13 feet below the rest of his friends, paralyzed from the waist down.Five years, a bout of depression, and lots of intensive therapy later, Callen is integrating back into society with Thoracic 12 complete paraplegia.

Craving the passion and spark from his life before the accident, Callen started Move Along, Inc., an organization to help other wheelchair-bound individuals like himself live with fervor. A sports lover, he organizes meetings and events for wheelchair-bound people in Syracuse to get together and feel the rush of wheeling down the court with a basketball in hand or the whoosh of a tennis racket.

Callen regained his passion and personality while working with wheelchair-bound kids and adults. And through Move Along, Inc., he inspires others to do the same.