A man paralyzed in 2006 when his car was hit head-on by a drunk driver has refused to miss a moment with his family. He has even learned daddy-daughter dances from his wheelchair to show his youngest daughter, a budding ballerina, that his love knows no limits.
Rhode Islander Charles Potter, 36, lives with his fiancée, 32-year-old Virginian, Rhonda Conrad, in Arizona. Charles has an older daughter named Brogan, 19, and the couple has a 6-year-old daughter together, Charlize.
Charles was paralyzed in an accident at the age of 20 and does not work. Rhonda works for a medical billing company and is Charles’ caregiver.
“I was 16 and I did not know Charles at the time of his accident, but I did read it in our local newspaper and it scared me, being I was a new driver,” Rhonda told The Epoch Times. “Charles was hit by a drunk driver in Winchester, Virginia, in September 2006. His light had just turned green, and he went to take a left turn when the drunk driver came up over a hill at 100 miles per hour, T-boning him.”
Charles broke his neck, bruised his spine, and sustained a cut near his eye. He had a bone taken from his hip and fused into his neck to repair the break but never recovered full mobility. When the accident first happened, Charles was only able to move his head, Rhonda said, and it was “the worst pain he had ever felt.”
“[The drunk driver] served three and a half years in prison, and five years supervised probation,” she said.
Yet Charles, propelled by positivity, refused to let his injuries hold him back from embracing life and being the best dad he could be. When their daughter, Charlize, was born, Charles was an active and doting parent.
When Charles was invited to take part in a daddy-daughter dance by Charlize’s dance school, Steppin' Out Performing Arts of Avondale, Arizona, it was a no-brainer.
“I refuse to let my chair stop me from being there and being present. It means the world to me to be able to be there and perform with her,” Charles said, praising his daughter. “She doesn’t look at me any differently being in my situation, but she knows there are some limits to what I can do.”
Rhonda said: “They have such a close bond; the saying ‘Daddy’s girl, Mama’s world’ couldn’t be more true.”
Rhonda, who considers herself an empath, has been overwhelmed by the online response to her videos of Charles and Charlize.
“Seeing so many people say they wish their father, or their children’s father, was in their daughters’ lives is so upsetting to me,” she explained, “but I understand, as I didn’t have my father in my life either. The amount of people who have been inspired by the video has been amazing as well.”
Since her fiancé’s viral fame, Rhonda has told Charles he should consider becoming a motivational speaker. Charles already has the motto that has allowed him to navigate through hard times: “Keep your head up and know that everything happens for a reason.”
