Years ago, fitness wasn’t a passion for John Morin. While Morin would pay for gym memberships, he’d often go one or two times a month… at best.
“I had no real motivation back then,” said Morin. “Until an event that changed my life and my views of fitness completely.”
That event came on August 13, 2012.
While riding his motorcycle along the freeway in Orange County (California), Morin was struck by a large truck. Morin hit a wall and was sent flying into the air while still holding onto his bike. Morin was knocked unconscious and wouldn’t wake up for 27 days.
John Morin
After waking up from his medically-induced coma, Morin would find out that his left leg had to be removed due to irreparable damage. On his right foot, three toes had been torn off. While they were able to reattach them, the bones would never be fixed. Wounds had developed on the top area of the right foot and the ankle that needed to be fixed with skin grafts.
Over the next three months, Morin would undergo 13 back-to-back surgeries.
When he was finally able to leave the hospital Morin had to figure out what to do next in his life. He had dreams of joining the military and those were now dashed. Morin had to spend a year learning how to live with the loss of a limb. Finally, he joined a 24-hour fitness gym but things didn’t go as planned.
“I would go to the gym in my wheelchair and it was difficult because people would stare,” said Morin. “It made me feel like less of a person for having to depend on a wheelchair to get around.”
After three trips to the gym, Morin stopped going.
Months later, Morin was fitted for a prosthetic and decided to give the gym another try. He joined Gold’s Gym in March 2013. There he met his soon-to-be best friend (Sandra Suh) and the two began working out on a consistent basis.
“We pushed each other to accomplish our individual fitness goals,” said Morin. “That slowly gave me my confidence back.”
That was when Morin’s true fitness journey took off. Since joining Gold’s Gym in March 2013, Morin goes to the gym 6-7 days a week and has never missed more than a week. He’s also expanded his home workout space purchasing several Body-Solid pieces from dealer FitnessFactory.com including rubber grip plates, ankle straps and additional cable attachments.
No matter the location, fitness and the gym has been a sanctuary for Morin.
“It has been challenging to work out with one leg but I have learned to adjust or adapt to make everything that I do seem natural to me,” said Morin. “I have had to learn new ways to overcome what some people have told me cannot be done, not to prove them wrong, but to prove to myself that I can do it.”
The gym has helped Morin accept his limitations and make peace with his accident but there are still issues.
“Weight loss and/or gain is difficult because of the fact that my residual limb is different due to the presence of skin grafts and my muscle loss from the accident,” said Morin. “It changes shape fast and messed up the fit of my prosthetic so I need to be gradual with any weight changes.”
When Morin gains or loses 4-5 pounds, his femur starts to rub on the inside of my socket causing painful bone bruises.
“I’m proud to be an amputee and any pain I experience due to changes in my body I’ve turned into a positive,” said Morin. “I have learned to accept that the pain will be a permanent part of my life but I can’t let it control my life or my way of living.”
“The gym is my happiness,” said Morin. “A place I feel that I have control of how much weight I pick up and how I do my work out…it is the place where I feel most normal even for only one to two hours a day.”
Learn More
Follow Morin’s continued fitness journey on Instagram at instagram.com/amp_u_t. For more information about Body-Solid, visit us at bodysolid.com.
