Two years ago I was participating in one of your group fitness classes, jumped off a box and my life changed forever. I went from being a six day a week high intensity workout person to a wheelchair bound rehabilitation patient.  Slowly I went from wheelchair, to crutches to brace; making small but at least forward progress.  Then as soon as I got the green light from my surgeon I was back at Pure under the guidance of trainer Gabriel Chan.  He was in direct contact with my doctor's physical therapist and was very careful to follow her directions.  We tried going easy, we tried pushing through the pain, but the only consistent result we got were tears and frustration from me.  I went to a surgeon in the U.S. hoping for suggestions to kick start recovery.  However, the surgeon told me to " get used to a sedentary life".  He said I would never lunge, squat, or basically do any thing other than bike and swim ever again.

That was not acceptable to me. I underwent a second surgery, received more physical therapy and due to the lack of improvement I started suffering from depression. I was then diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which basically means; for no apparent reason my brain was not allowing my body to recover.  I remember walking over to Pure for my workout with Gabriel, feeling like I had hit an all time low.  Do you know how Gabriel responded to my news? He smiled and said, " wow, I've only read about that diagnosis in text books, I never thought I would actually get to work with a RSD patient!" He did not allow me to throw a pity party instead he jumped right in with strange new exercises and his ever present encouragement. 

I am now close to the two year anniversary of my accident.  I have been working out with Gabriel two/three days a week for a year and a half.  He has been incredible! He never gets frustrated, he is always smiling and cheering me on.  When an exercise hurts my knee he will immediately figure out a way to tweak the exercise so that we can continue with out fear of damage to the injury.  He used to hand me my towel so I could wipe away the tears as I continued to plow through but now my towel is only used for wiping my sweat.  I am lunging, squatting, and climbing stairs all under Gabriel's watchful eyes and it feels wonderful.  I may never run or jump again, but I will not spend the rest of my life sedentary nor will I suffer from depression. 

Gabriel is an incredible personal trainer.  He goes above and beyond to push, encourage and cheer me on. He has researched, modified and constantly shifted activities to accommodate my needs.  Pure is lucky to have an employee like Gabriel and he deserves any and all recognition you can give him.

Thank You,