It’s a typical Friday for Chris Greenly, as he wakes up, gets ready and helps his girlfriend Sarah make breakfast at their home in Felton.
Greenly is a 26-year-old student at Cabrillo, he hopes to one day be an engineer. But unlike his peers at school, Greenly also deals with the day to day challenges of being wheelchair bound—something he never imagined would be his life, until a vehicle accident almost two years ago.
“It was so new to everybody. My life is a lot different now,” Greenly said.
In November 2016, Greenly was returning from San Jose after a Sharks game when he lost control of his car on Highway 9 near SS Peter and Paul Antiochian Church, just north of Ben Lomond.
The accident, which Chris does not remember, left him c5 quadriplegic, meaning due to damage of his spinal cord he lost movement and feeling from his chest down.
Chris grew up in the San Lorenzo Valley, with his younger brother Tyler and mother and father, Lisa and Ron. He graduated in 2010 from SLVHS where he was a three sport athlete in football, lacrosse and soccer. But Chris’s real passion before the accident was playing disc golf with his friends.
When the accident happened, Chris was 24 years-old and living in Santa Cruz. After high school finished, rather than starting college, Chris worked various jobs for his family’s business Allard Septic Service in Felton.
While his memory of what happened during and after the accident are a blur to him, his mother Lisa remembers in detail. His parents and family spent a lot of time at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center as Chris had several surgeries. According to his mother Lisa, Chris had multiple internal and external injuries that required surgeries and time in the trauma and intensive care units. But from day one in the hospital Chris and the Greenly’s had many supporters willing to spend time with Chris to keep him company, lift his spirits and check in on the family.
“Small towns are amazing in this way,” said Chris’s mom Lisa. “It takes a village and everyone around here knows it.”
Despite Chris’s body having gone through a traumatic injury, his mother remembers walking into the hospital room and recognizing her son instantly.
“I was told for whatever reason I might not recognize him,” said Lisa. “But I was shocked, his face was perfect.”
After Chris was ready to be discharged from the hospital, nothing could prepare his family and girlfriend on how to prepare and adjust to Chris’s next steps.
“We were really green back then,” said Lisa. “It was just learning and I am still learning. But Chris’s attitude is amazing and it makes everyone else’s attitude positive.”
With the help of community members, the Greenly’s home in Felton was adapted to be ADA wheelchair accessible. Chris and his girlfriend Sarah, moved into his parents home in Felton to ease his adjustment.
In 2017, with the help of Chris’s aunt Penny, a spaghetti dinner fundraiser was held to raise money to assist the Greenly’s with medical bills. Last month, a similar fundraiser was held, but this time it was a pancake breakfast. According to Lisa, $15,000 was raised with approximately 300 people in attendance. The funds from the pancake breakfast largely went towards helping the Greenly’s get a new van to help transport Chris, since their old one broke.
Lisa and her husband, Ron, traveled last weekend to Arizona to pick up the new van that is specially equipped to transport Chris in his wheelchair. The outpouring of support is not lost on Chris, who said he is thankful for his friends and family for continuing to rally around him.
“This is the kind of situation where you need help. When everyone around you is upbeat you can’t help but put a smile on your face,” Chris said.
As the summer winds down, Chris is already looking forward to several classes he is registered for in the fall at Cabrillo. He also is hopeful to start attending sessions at SCI-Fit (located in Pleasanton), which specializes in nontraditional spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Chris and his family continue to need assistance with medical bills and continue to run a GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/help-chris-greenly.
