While a spinal cord injury left Jerod Nieder paralyzed and without feeling from the chest down and changed his life forever, he also met his soulmate during his rehabilitation. The couple has now become an advocacy powerhouse for the paralyzed community.
In 2011, Jerod was 29 years old when he sustained a spinal cord injury while on vacation with his family in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
‘My Injury Was Unacceptable’
“I just went running down the beach and I dove into the surf,” Jerod told The Epoch Times.“Unbeknownst to me, there were rocks or a sandbar underneath. I never lost consciousness, but I couldn’t move anything at that point. Luckily, I was able to hold my breath until my brother pulled me up to the beach.”
The impact had shattered Jerod’s C5 vertebra in his neck, paralyzing him immediately. He had his head injury stitched up at Playa Del Carmen before being rushed to Cancun for a cervical fusion, a crucial procedure that had to be undertaken in the first 72 hours.
Back in the United States, Jerod spent four months at a rehabilitation hospital where he had a suprapubic catheter put in. A year after his accident, he had both hips replaced.
“I was not able to do the work that I did before. I had to completely relearn how to do everything. It completely changed the trajectory of my life, absolutely,” Jerod said.
Meeting His Soulmate
As Jerod acclimatized to life in a wheelchair, so he continued to be socially active. Eight years into his rehabilitation, on Oct. 18, 2019, he met Hanna at Fourth Street Live karaoke bar in Louisville, Kentucky. They bonded over cocktails.Hanna said: “I remember sitting at the table with him. I had never seen anybody in a wheelchair before, that I can recall, and I had no experience with paralysis or spinal cord injury. We were just introduced casually by our mutual friend. We talked about music genres that we liked because I told Jerod I love everything from country music all the way to Andrea Bocelli. It was really impactful because Jerod remembered that I said that, and the first concert that he took me to was Andrea Bocelli.”
Jerod was equally blown away by Hanna.
He said: “Honestly, I felt like I was in a movie; kind of surreal, because a beautiful girl was talking to me like a normal person. The conversation just flowed, and I don’t feel like she saw a quadriplegic; she definitely saw a guy who was in a wheelchair, but she didn’t view me as a disabled person and I felt that immediately.”
‘Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder’
The pair swapped numbers. Hanna, who had just graduated college and entered the workforce, wasn’t interested in dating, but she found herself meeting Jerod regularly for brunch or a concert, and they grew close.Jerod asked Hanna to be his girlfriend. But when Hanna, who has Korean and Filipino heritage, embarked on a long trip to realize her dream of seeing the world, she declined.
“I kept turning him down just because I was traveling,” she said. “I was going through Malaysia and Indonesia and the Philippines, all by myself, and Jerod very much grounded me. We were texting every single day, throughout the day. He would always send screenshots with the distance between us, which was really cute.”
Jerod had asked to take care of Hanna’s dog, Belle, while she was gone and sent regular updates. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder,” he said. “I got to live vicariously through her, so it was good for both of us.”
Yet Hanna found herself exhausted by travel after three months abroad. Jerod suggested she come home for Christmas, and bought her a one-way ticket. Hanna never left again.
“I don’t feel like I gave up anything, really. It was just my dreams changed,” she said.
The Wedding
Before leaving Kansas, Jerod had realized his own dream: he proposed to Hanna just before her birthday, on May 30, 2020. Jerod’s mother did not live to witness the proposal but had already given her son her blessing: “She said, ‘I knew she was the one for you,’” Jerod said.The happy couple tied the knot at home in Kentucky on Dec. 18, 2021, the 10th anniversary of Jerod’s accident. “Hannah had the idea,” Jerod said, “like, let’s own this date, let’s make it something positive that we can remember.”
Jerod has an epidural stimulator implant in his spine that allows him to stand and squat. Ahead of the wedding, he worked with his specialist, Dr. Susan Harkema, head researcher of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, to allow him to bow to Hanna’s parents on the big day, an important tradition in the Korean wedding ceremony.
The couple shared their vows through tears and made their life-long commitment to one another in front of their closest friends and family.
“We have just tackled everything together,” Hanna said. “That’s how we operated before getting married, but it’s just amplified after marriage. What I love most is his attitude about life.”
‘Love Wins, Stay Positive’
A typical day for Jerod and Hanna starts with Jerod’s bowel program.“His body functions aren’t normal because everything from the chest down is not normal,” Hanna said. “I help him use the bathroom every morning, and then I help him get dressed, get cleaned up. I am working throughout the day, and then Jerod goes to the hospital; he is able to drive his chair there since he doesn’t drive a vehicle yet.”
Jerod said: “I’m doing OT, PT, different types of stimulation. I participate in research, and there’s an accessible gym that’s very close ... that’s where I spend half the day.”
In the evenings, once they are back home together, they have a couple of calls or text messages back and forth, helping a family or a person with paralysis. “That’s pretty much every day,” Hanna said.
The couple have perfected teamwork: Hanna takes care of physical tasks, while Jerod handles logistics and organization. To ease the burden on Hanna’s jam-packed routine, they order pre-made nutritious meals. They manage Instagram and YouTube accounts together to support the paralyzed community and their carers, and are constantly navigating the costs associated with Jerod’s condition, but a positive mental attitude keeps them buoyant.
Jerod and Hanna credit their parents for setting examples of strong and happy marriages, despite the different ways they grew up.
“My parents set an example of a very, very traditional marriage but a very great marriage, so that’s kind of what I know,” Jerod said. “They worked as complete partners on everything in life, and I see that’s how we’re operating.”
Hanna said: “It’s funny because we’re polar opposites in that. My father was in the Army stationed in Korea, met my mother in Korea, and she moved to the United States when she was in her thirties. I moved every two years growing up, and I enjoyed it. It was different. ... But Jerod is from a town and his grandparents are from that same town; it’s very established.
“So we both had great family life and parents who loved us, but it was just a total opposite of our childhood and growing up.”
Jerod and Hanna hope to start their own family one day but are in “no rush” since they both face reproductive challenges. In the meantime, their bond strengthens with every passing day, and they continue to look outward to see how they can impact others.
Jerod’s motto is, “Love wins, stay positive.”
He advises anybody with a spinal cord injury or adversity of any kind to work hard and stay positive, reasoning, “Those are the two things that are going to get you out of this.
“I would also say find a community,” he said. “Finding other people that are going through similar struggles, seeing how they’re tackling it, seeing where they get their inspiration ... just find a community of people like you, and you'll get through it together.”
