After a Spinal Cord Injury Left a Marine Dad of 6 Paralyzed, He Found Purpose in Inspiring Others
Not many people know what they want to be when they grow up with absolute certainty, but Sherman Gillums Jr. knew he was destined for the Marine Corps. At just 16, he made the decision, and on his 17th birthday, he underwent the full physical and mental evaluation. From then on, his life seemed like a straight path that led him to serve for 12 years. At 29, when Gillums was in prime marathon-running form, life as he knew it changed forever.
Gillums was involved in a triple rollover crash after being cut off by a semi-truck that swerved into his lane to avoid hitting another car that was trying to catch his exit.
"I was unconscious for three days and woke up in a new body," Gillums tells Parade. "I was a day or two away from checking into my new unit, 1st Marine Division, which was set to deploy to Afghanistan."
A New Way of Life
Faced with a new reality, the Marine initially wasn't sure what to make of his life.
"You hear all the statistics about the slight chance that you won't fall into the majority of injury cases," he recalls. "So that small chance, even if it's only a point percentage, becomes what you hang your hope on. I was too early in the injury to understand the full extent. It would take me about a month or two to realize how limited I'd be in my new body, and after several months, I slowly began to accept that this is what life was going to look like going forward."
His military training came in clutch here, not just with his physical capabilities but his mental fortitude. He found a way to carry out all of his "normal" functions by approaching them from alternative angles or by implementing tools that enabled him to be independent.
"The first thing you learn when you become paralyzed is the importance of having foresight and thinking creatively about how to carry out tasks that could someday become a matter of life or death," he explains. "I got to this point by watching a lot of people who were in a similar circumstance and maintaining a willingness to try just about anything until I made it work, no matter how long it took, how many times I had fallen backward, or how hard it appeared to be."
Also, having four sons and two daughters helped keep him focused and on track. After all, they needed him no matter how difficult life was. In that steadfast accountability to them, he was able to truly show up for himself.
"I couldn't get caught up in how bad a day was going because my wheelchair was broken or maybe I felt disrespected at a store because someone parked in the only remaining accessible spot with no placard or indication of a disability," he says of being a father while navigating a disability. "They only know me in a wheelchair, so to them I was normal. I attended parent-teacher conferences and sporting events, and maintained order and structure in the house, just like any other dad."
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A New Purpose
The thing about Gillums is that nothing has ever stopped him from being the 16-year-old kid who felt that inner drive to make a difference. Post-spinal cord injury, he has accomplished more in his life than many typically able-bodied people.
In addition to earning his doctorate, Gillums has also written books and transitioned from seeking assistance at Paralyzed Veterans of America to overseeing its architecture and vocational services. Eventually, he rose to his current role as Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
In this capacity, he leads national advocacy efforts to advance research and dismantle the "invisible" barriers of societal apathy and physical inaccessibility, utilizing a leadership style forged in the Marine Corps that he says has "continued to pay dividends in just about every leadership role" he has held since his honorable discharge.
Rather than simply rescuing others, Sherman focuses on empowering individuals to choose their own independence, driven by the firm conviction that "life is meant to be lived, not survived, and that includes persons who overcome the challenge of starting down a new path when they find themselves with a spinal cord injury."
That doesn't mean his life is easy by any means. Gillums struggles with consistent nerve pain and working through troubling thoughts, but he focuses on finding peace for himself and others by aiming to inspire "every waking minute," whether they have spinal cord issues or not. He emphasizes that struggle comes in all shapes and sizes, and recognizing that shared humanity has made a huge difference in his life.
"I use the term 'every waking minute' a lot because there's hardly ever a moment when you're not confronted with some aspect of living with a spinal cord injury that tries to distract you from the ordinary aspects of getting up, getting kids ready for school, getting ready for work, and simply going through the day doing what everyone else does," he says.
"There's someone on earth who went through exactly what you went through and found a way, so reclaiming your life is about being diligent in the pursuit of what that means for you, starting with constantly enhancing your value to yourself and others in a way that gives you purpose."
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This story was originally published April 12, 2026 at 9:29 AM.