Life to the Max Podcast
Welcome to 'Life to the Max Podcast,' where resilience meets inspiration!
Join us on a transformative journey through the life stories of remarkable individuals, including Quadriplegic Army Veteran Maximilian Gross. In this empowering podcast, we dive into tales of triumph, courage, and the human spirit's unwavering ability to overcome obstacles.
Our show is a celebration of diverse narratives, from awe-inspiring achievements to the darkest of traumas. 'Life to the Max' is a testament to the power of living authentically, no matter the circumstances. We believe that everyone has a unique story worth sharing, and we invite individuals from all walks of life to join us.
Discover the profound meaning of living 'Life to the Max'—a concept that resonates differently with each storyteller. It's a journey of perspective, resilience, and finding joy amidst life's challenges. Tune in to be inspired, motivated, and reminded that there's strength in every story.
Ready to redefine what it means to live life to the fullest? Share your story with us and become a part of this uplifting community. Because, at 'Life to the Max,' every story matters.
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Life to the Max Podcast
Acceptance without Surrender: Taking Life's Trials as They Come
Instagram @quadlifewithryan
We sat down with Ryan Herrick from Fort Wayne and unpacked what it means to live independently with a C7 spinal cord injury, from driving solo and hotel check-ins to planning trips just because the city looks beautiful from a new angle. The talk is lean, real, and candid: no studio gloss, just two people trading tools for resilience in the middle of a busy Abilities Expo.
Ryan shares how one broken vertebra redrew his map—and how community filled it back in. He hosts backyard barbecues that bring together a crowd of friends and wheelchairs, proof that access and joy grow when you gather. We question the word “acceptance,” keeping the facts while rejecting surrender, and we explore forgiveness around the drivers in our accidents—how to hold pain and still leave a door open. We also get practical about purpose: vocational rehab, peer advocacy, and the power of small audiences that actually care.
Roll with us, then tell someone who needs a nudge. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep these stories moving.
What's up guys? As you can see, we're not in the studio at home. We're actually at the Abillies Expo in Chicago. And this podcast is gonna be a little different. It's gonna be like a speed cast. The sound is not gonna be as great because of how wide open this space is, but I hope you guys enjoy it. Please enjoy this Life to the Max speedcast.
SPEAKER_00:Just a couple of ponds I'll try to get by. Just a couple of teas, I'll try to survive. Live to the max.
SPEAKER_02:And we are at the ability expo in Schomburg, Illinois. It is Friday, June 20th, 2025, and today I have Ryan.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Ryan.
SPEAKER_02:Ryan, what's your last name?
SPEAKER_01:Herrick.
SPEAKER_02:Ryan Herrick. Yeah. And we're gonna have a little power and see how your life has been.
SPEAKER_01:Sweet, man. Yeah, and thank you for having me. Yeah, got some uh Miami Vice vibes going on here, man. Yeah, man. Feel like I'm in Miami. Ruck on you got the kicks there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01:Those are my favorite callers. Yeah, man. Yeah, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So tell me a little bit about yourself, Ryan.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, man. Um I'm from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Um, I my injury is uh C7 spinal cord injury. Um about seven years now, coming up on seven years, just a passenger in a car accident. Broke one bone in my body and paralyzed from the chest down. Uh extremely blessed though. I'm independent. Um, I'm able to drive. Came up here all by myself, um, chilling in a hotel by myself, to go explore Chicago and kind of doing a little bit of it's a beautiful city. Yeah. Do you live in Chicago?
SPEAKER_02:I live in the suburbs.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but I love Chicago. Yeah, love sports, love food, everything's great.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, for me, I would say the opposite. I hate Chicago, but I'm here advocating, checking things out, and just doing some stuff to do. Do you Colts fan? I'm actually Denver Broncos. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not a paint manning thing either. I actually, back when I was a kid with John Elway and stuff.
SPEAKER_02:So John Elway, how old are you?
SPEAKER_01:I'm 37 now.
SPEAKER_02:29.
SPEAKER_01:29.
SPEAKER_02:So what you can ask, yeah. Yeah. So uh what happened to me was I was in the military and I was coming up to see my family for my birthday. So I this was three days after my birthday. I drove halfway and then uh I uh switched seats with my buddy. Okay. And we were gonna go meet our girlfriends and stuff, and have like a fun time, enjoy the celebration of my birthday. And he was like, Yeah, uh I was like, dude, wake me up when we get to Chicago because he's never been. So I was like, and then I woke up in the hospital uh three days later uh not being able to breathe, move for anything because uh we were for car exile.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, not enough. Yeah, yeah. How long ago was that?
SPEAKER_02:That was about nine years ago.
SPEAKER_01:Nine years ago. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh but I wouldn't change anything, and I mean like it's like weird to say that, but uh I met the most humble, amazing, great people. Like I I can't I can't like like back then, like I I had great leaders in the military. I was training uh to be a ranger in the military.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so you're a bad boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Watch them hands.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. I had some Miami bicycles. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But um, so I the military helped me with the foundation of like, you know, like it's gonna take time, you know, don't don't worry, and then you know, things will get better, and 90 years later, here I am.
SPEAKER_01:Talking to you, Ron. And I'm the same. Uh right when the accident happened, I didn't have you can ask those people that were close to me, I didn't have a down moment. Like right off the bat, I accepted it and was like, what are we gonna do? Like, let's go, let's get this, and uh same thing, man. Now I'm I work full time at vocational rehabilitation. I advocate Fort Wayne's got a huge community of people in chairs. So I really yeah, I just had about 20 people over at my house. Brought about 15 wheelchairs doing a barbecue a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_02:So that's cool, man.
SPEAKER_01:Got a huge community in Fort Wayne. Anytime you wanna come down there and check it out.
SPEAKER_02:So I uh so your car accepted, uh, were you driving?
SPEAKER_01:No, I was a passenger. Oh yeah, you were buddy's buddy. But are you guys still friends? Um, I didn't have any problem with him. He came to the hospital probably the first month. Okay. Um, I didn't have any issues. I accepted it. Um, me and my best friend, we're still we're still best friends.
SPEAKER_02:So So the guy who was driving my car was my best friend.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And we're we don't talk anymore. And I want I've reached out to him many times. Zach, if you're listening, uh freaking reach out to me. Reach out to him many times to make amends. Yes, shit happens, and I believe in the future of technology, and I believe in I I think the word acceptance is wrong. So I don't know. I think we accept it. We accept our position, but we don't accept like defeat. It's not defeat, yeah. We accept it as a like we'll be able to like persevere through this, because that's what this podcast is about. Yeah, uh facing adversity and uh persevering.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and our chairs, we're able to reach a community, and people like right now, what you're doing, yeah, you're touching so many more people than you even realize. Somebody listening to this, and it's it's touching a lot of people in the community. I hope so. So it definitely is, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, keep it going, and I I don't care if I get 30 views or 30,000 views. I told people that because those 30 views, I had to have impacted one person.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's all that makes me happy. Yeah, keep this stuff going, man. Even if not, you know, this is awesome.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I brought I appreciate the uh the show. Do you have anything to say?
SPEAKER_01:What's up, Fort Wayne community? I appreciate you having me on here and your family being you know, stopping me when I was rolling by. So this is awesome. This is the first time I've ever I'm getting into some stuff, which I actually totally forgot to press the record button on this. But yeah, I'm getting into some of the same stuff. Um, I graduated college in May, so now I'm a little bored and like what's next, even though I'm working full time. So I'm going around and recording on my 360 camera and just posting some stuff and kind of that's awesome. Kind of doing the same thing. Do you have a YouTube channel? Instagram, anything? I literally just got this two weeks ago. I've had a couple lessons on it and figuring it out right now as we go.
SPEAKER_02:So uh well, when you uh have that information, I'll definitely put the link down the description below. And it was uh great having you on, and uh I just all I have to say is uh thank you for telling your story. Uh everybody like, comment, and subscribe, and take a breath for me. Spend the abilities expo twenty twenty-five. Yeah, sweet, thanks guys.
SPEAKER_00:Never really trippin', try my best to stay focused. I try to keep it cool, are you lames, keep it bogus? Ahead on a swivel, looking out for the locus.