University senior Andrew Thomson sees himself as an average guy.
The philosophy and English major comes to campus for classes and spends his nights studying. On weekends, he goes to movies, writes, paints and tries to learn the harmonica.
He doesn’t spend much time thinking about being a quadriplegic student – a situation he has not gotten used to yet.
“I don’t really think about my life as any different,” Thomson said. “I guess if I sit down and think about it, it probably is in a lot of respects, but I don’t really think of it that way.”
Thomson, who has some movement in his arms, has needed to make adjustments to get around campus, however. He uses a Quickie S-626 motorized wheelchair and a modified Toyota van, and a full-time caregiver helps him with chores at home.
Of the 30 to 40 students identified by the University as having mobility-related disabilities, only about five identify themselves as quadriplegics, said Disability Services Councilor Molly Sirois.
A native of Corvallis, Ore., Thomson formerly enjoyed an active lifestyle of snowboarding, running, river rafting and playing the drums, some of the activities that he misses.
But the summer before his junior year in high school, Thomson, then 16, went on a six-day wilderness river rafting trip with his family on the Salmon River in Idaho. On the fifth day, he was running to jump into the river when he collided with a river guide and fell into the shallow river.
He immediately lost all feeling below his neck.
A helicopter carried Thomson to a hospital in Lewiston, Idaho, and doctors were unsure of the extent of his injuries. He spent 10 days recovering while the hospital looked to place him in a rehabilitation center.
Thomson traveled to Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, Calif., where he spent four months learning to adapt to using a wheelchair.
The hospital was “as fun as a rehab hospital could be,” Thomson said.
Thomson wasn’t able to return to high school until January. Many people at school weren’t sure how to act around him, but for the most part his life felt normal, he said, because he was able to hang out with his friends, many of whom had visited him in Sacramento.
Senior history major Austin Luc Charron, who knows Thomson from junior high and high school, said he noticed that when Thomson returned to school, he didn’t seem to focus on what happened and that he quickly got back to work.
“He’s really friendly, really courteous, and I admire his determination,” Charron said. “I’m amazed at … everything he’s overcome.”
In the five years since the accident, Thomson said, he has not focused on his circumstances, though he occasionally thinks about the accident.
“In some ways, it really hasn’t caught up with me yet,” Thomson said. “It’s probably something I’ll never get used to, but it’s just one of those things that at the same time when you’re out doing stuff, you don’t really think about it all the time.”
Thomson primarily chose to attend the University because of its emphasis on liberal arts, but the campus’ accessibility was an issue that played a role in his decision to attend, he said.
“At first I had to figure out my own route because there’s a couple of places where there are stairs,” Thomson said. “Most of the buildings have power doors; you just have to find them, which can sometimes be a hunt.”
Sirois said most of the University’s buildings are equipped with elevators and power doors for wheelchair access. Yet sometimes a classroom’s set up is a problem for students in wheelchairs, she said.
Thomson plans his class schedule so that class locations and times are close to each other, he said. When he’s in classrooms, the desks have to be moved around. In the lecture halls, he either has to sit in the front or in the back of the room.
Thomson’s caregiver, a former University student, drives him to campus in the specially equipped minivan.
“It’s really nice having an accessible van,” Thomson said. “After I first broke my neck, I didn’t have one and I was stuck at home for several months unless I set up a ride ahead of time. Now that I have a car, I can pretty much go out and do whatever, whenever.”
One drawback to life in Eugene is the rain, he said. His wheelchair can drive at a moderate jogging speed to get him between classes.
“I try to time it right and get from one class to the next quickly,” Thomson said. “I have gotten stuck in the mud, I think it was once or twice. Luckily, some guy was there to help me out.”
Thomson has noticed a few perks, such as having better access to parking spaces and finding a movie theater in Corvallis that gives him free tickets. Concert tickets for excellent seats are usually available to him as well, he said.
“The sections will sell out, but the wheelchair seats won’t sell out, so I can get tickets at later dates,” Thomson said. “They’re usually available until the day of the show.”
Thomson said he jokes around with his roommate about being quadriplegic, but what he called a media stereotype of mobility-disabled people being angry is not the case with him, he said.
“It all seems normal to me now, even if it’s not exactly how I imagined going through college,” Thomson said.
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