Jerry Long was paralysed from the neck down as the result of a diving accident which rendered him a quadriplegic at the age of seventeen. In letter to Viktor Frankl, who tells the story in Man’s Search for Meaning, he wrote,
‘I view my life as being abundant with purpose. The attitude I adopted on that fateful day has become my personal credo for life: I broke my neck, but it didn’t break me. I am currently enrolled in my first psychology course in college. I believe that my handicap will only enhance my ability to help others. I know that without the suffering, the growth I have achieved would have been impossible.’
