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Inspirations Articles

David Garfinkle Shares His Courageous Story

 David Garfinkle  Shares His Courageous Story
Photo sourced from the "About Us" page of the N-eff website: n-eff.ca.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Ten years ago David Garfinkle, a successful businessman and elite athlete,  was at a staff retreat in Hawaii for his company when he decided to take beginner’s surf board lessons. Tragically he fell in shallow water, waking up from a coma 10 days later in a Montreal hospital with  a C4 incomplete spinal cord injury

He had to accept the fact he’d spend the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. With 24/7 assistance from caregivers and a stoic attitude he is trying to make the best of an enormously difficult situation. On Sunday, February 9 (5:30 pm), he will host a Super Bowl Bash at  the vibrant Améa Café at Maison Alcan (1188 Sherbrooke Street West) to benefit the  NEF- Neuro-Efficiency Foundation (https://n-eff.ca/), which has as its mission to  athletic and recreational services, as well as support and educational programs, accessible and affordable to any individual with a spinal cord injury, also known as a SCI injury. 

Eric Boyer is the executive director of NEF. On January 3, 2019 he suffered  a terrible alpine ski accident that broke his back, several ribs which pierced his lungs, crushed his aorta and put him in a coma for over a week. Today he is  paralyzed with a  T7/8 with an incomplete spinal cord injury.

David agreed to share his story with Inspirations Newspaper Publisher Mike Cohen. Here  is the video: