April 18, 2023

PALOOZA COMING UP APRIL 29TH AT OLD SCHOOL SQUARE, 5-10PM!!

March 3, 2022

It has been 14 years since Cruise was paralyzed from a skimboarding accident at Hammock Park, Ocean Ridge, FL. In a split second, he became a quadriplegic at 19 years old.

He spent 2 1/2 weeks in the ICU at Delray Medical Center, where the care could not have been better. From very informative nurses to his case manager, the whole family came to feel very comfortable in that very foreign environment. So much so, that when it came time to leave and go to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for rehab, we didn't want to leave!

Cruise and the whole family spent 2 1/2 months at Shepherd Center, were all taught all we needed to know about how to care for Cruise and once again became very comfortable in that environment. Cruise got off the trach and we finally heard his voice again after 6 weeks. He learned there that there is a life after a spinal cord injury, although in truth, the reality of that took years to set in.

Neuroxel opened in North Palm Beach about 6 months after Cruise got home from Shepherd Center. In September of 2009, he was the third client and worked out there for the better part of 10 years, only with the help of fundraising and his community! There have been several "therapies" Cruise explored those first couple of years: Physical Therapy, Biofeedback, Aqua Therapy and more.

He managed to gain some movement in his right arm, paralyzed technically from the chest down. He has an assistant who works for him 5 days/week 8 hours/day. He also has care at night and on weekends.. needing someone near him 24/7. He hasn't gone to a gym since just before Covid hit, but looking to do that again in the future.

Thus, the fundraising.....

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Our community has been incredible at supporting Cruise and the whole family for 13 years. January 2009 was the first Cruiser Palooza in his cousin's front yard and April 6, 2019, was the 11th Palooza and very successful at the new venue, Old School Square in downtown Delray Beach. Over 1100 people in attendance! We were unable to hold the 12th Palooza in 2020 because of Covid but we will have it April 16, 2022, back at the Delray Playhouse!

All of our lives would be so different without this amazing support behind Cruise and the Johnston Bogle family. Cruise is able to be as independent as he can be. He has in fact, flourished. He has started a couple of businesses over the years, the latest is CruiseBogleDesigns, selling products of his mouth-painting. He had a youtube channel called Paralyze This, by Cruiseybabbby Enterprises... check it out. He was interviewing people from different walks of life and those people were in one of Cruise's power chairs, strapped down so that during the interview they have some brief sense of what it is to have a spinal cord injury, unable to move. This was a very powerful statement for those involved... bringing attention to Spinal Cord Injuries. Covid prevented those interviews from continuing.... Cruise's latest challenge is called Curious Creatures Collective, an NFT Project, selling digital art and raising awareness and funds for other SCI artists. The opening for that project is April 4, 2022.

Somehow, through all of his challenges, Cruise has kept his amazing sense of humor and is known to make anyone and everyone feel completely comfortable in his presence. He is spreading positivity when and where he can with his outstanding attitude towards life. He was forced to focus on his own mental health during Covid and has come out the other side of that darkness having had lots of counseling. He is now a staunch advocate of mental health therapy.

We thank everyone who has donated and gifted to benefit Cruise. He (and we, the whole family) appreciate each and every one of you who have made our lives so much easier than it otherwise would have been without your support!