It's so nice to meet you, and this story is so inspiring.
So it was 2016?
Yeah.
So--
You're riding your bike.
Riding my bike home from class.
I was in audio engineering school,
and come up to the last intersection before my home.
And the light turns green, and I'm beside a car.
We start going across, but the car
sees that there's a car that's not
stopping for the red light, slams on their brakes,
and I was exposed at the last minute.
And the car t-boned me.
I have a massive scar right here, actually, fractured--
shattered the windshield.
So OK.
So do you-- you don't remember the accident?
No.
But you remember-- do you remember the hospital?
Yeah, so I woke up in the hospital,
and one of the first things I thought was, you know,
they told me I was in an accident, and like--
well, so someone hit me, and it was an accident,
and they didn't mean to.
Like, they must feel awful.
Like, tell her that it's OK.
Tell her that I forgive her and that, you
know, whatever happens, like she shouldn't, you know, hold that.
You know?
Wow.
That's amazing.
I think there's a picture of you with the woman that--
Yeah, Freya.
That's her?
That must mean everything to her that you forgave her for that.
Yeah.
Yeah, she's turned her whole life around, too.
Yeah.
It's pretty incredible.
My whole story is redemption.
Well, good for you for forgiving her right away, immediately.
OK, so the doctors tell you-- so you're laying in bed,
and the doctors tell you-- when did
you know you couldn't feel your legs or move?
Right, right.
I am sitting there in bed.
I've got a neck brace on, and I'm
like, why are my legs not on the bed?
I think I asked my parents that, actually.
I was like, why are my legs not on the bed?
And they're like, they are on the bed.
So I looked down, and sure enough, it's
like, they are on the bed.
And that was the first moment when I was like, whoa,
this is--
You can't feel them.
--something serious.
Yeah.
So they told you you're probably going
to be in a wheelchair your whole life?
Yeah, they said best case is maybe having metal
bracing around your legs to walk,
but it's not really functional.
So basically, you're going to be in a wheelchair forever.
Right.
So you met him, and how did you meet him?
So I went to Nashville for a wedding,
and my friend was gigging the night before.
So I went out to support him.
And David was also gigging at the same concert.
So I got to hang out with David, and he was such a light
after just meeting him one day.
And I started listening to David's music,
so I went home, had his CD in my car, played it still, and--
Sing along with Dave, right?
Sing along with David time, yeah.
It was swell.
And felt like I knew him, and then two months,
our mutual friend called me and told me about his accident.
Right.
So then you reached out and said?
Yes, so I actually wrote a letter to David.
I wanted to be intentional, because we
were only acquaintances.
I don't want to be creepy.
So I was like, let's do--
let's go all the way and just write a letter.
And he received it in the hospital.
Oh, yeah.
They got the picture of it.
There it is.
Wow, it's a long letter.
Yeah.
She's well-spoken.
Yeah.
All right.
So then-- and then you obviously have been married since then.
Yeah.
So what has the recovery been like?
What's been the--
I mean it's really hard.
You're having to learn to walk again.
Yeah, I mean literally, they would do a lot of analogies
to how babies learn to walk.
So I started with no movement, literally just sitting in a bed
and learning how to transfer into a wheelchair.
But then about four weeks after, I
was on the phone with a friend late at night,
and I'm always trying to move my legs.
And so I'm just looking down, and I'm, like, talking to him.
And I'm like, dude, I think my foot moved just a little.
So not only are you walking, and you didn't think you'd--
or they didn't think you'd walk again,
but now you're going to do a bike ride.
Is it from LA to San Francisco or San Francisco to LA?
San Francisco to LA.
Yeah.
You're doing the bike ride from San Francisco to LA.
Yeah.
Wow.
On a tandem, together.
Yes.
That's amazing.
[APPLAUSE]
All right.
First of all, I got something for you,
because you're going to need this when you are on your ride.
Oh.
Yes.
Oh, yes.
All right.
Thank you.
That is awesome.
Jerseys.
Our friends at Shutterfly love stories like this,
and they're going to donate $10,000 to MusiCares,
who I know is very important in your lives.
We'll be right back.
Oh, my god.