Jesse Sink, burnt but not defeated!

“The only choice you can make to ensure your success is the choice to never, ever give up!“

Turn Tragedy to Triumph

New York, Penn Station, December 3rd 2006, 3:00 AM.

It was the defining moment when Jesse Sink, a young fashion model and a fitness competitor, starred in the face of Death, and his life has changed forever.

What defines the measure of courage, tolerance, and bravery? How much pain one has to go through to make or break the barrier which separates a quiter from the survivor and the victor?!

I’m sitting and waiting for the subject of my interview to show up and meanwhile leafing through his book. A title “Shock Your Life Into Action” could have suggested it is another do-it-yourself guide about sales techniques. However a picture on the book jacket immediately sends shockwaves. I see a handsome, well built man with a six-pack of carved muscles, extensive burn scars and missing limb below his right elbow! Questions are already boiling in my mind. Mild sound of footsteps and amicable chit chat are approaching the door like a snowball, and in the next moment here he comes. Over six feet tall giant, very comfortable in his own skin, ginger head with blue eyes man from the book jacket. The entire room momentarily fills up with his fiery positive energy, jokes and absolutely easy-going personality. He drops down on the chair, swiftly shakes my hand and winks at me: “How it’s goin?”

That is how I met and instantaneously became friends with Jesse Sink, the man who never accepted the limits and limitations the life had unsuccessfully tried to push on him. Why? Because he refused to surrender to his disabilities. A horrible freak accident made Jesse lose his arm, burn from high voltage power line, die and come back! That same accident made him a living legend to learn from and be inspired by.

His unique story about mistakes, tragedy, pain, courage, ironclad will to survive and unsurpassed joy for the life he has been granted again after his death makes wonder about priorities and make us want to raise our own bar higher.

Tatiana: I was leafing through your book right now to fathom the depth of what happened to you, and how that fateful night in 2006 had affected your life?

What was your life like before the accident?

Jesse: I was raised on a farm in a very conservative, religious household, almost like amish, without any internet, or tv. I was craving for more balance in my life, I felt like I wanted a bigger purpose. When I was younger I was praying to God to be a little different, I just didn’t I know I would be this different. I got what I’ve asked for, but it came with a lot of pain. I was able to take my pain and turn it into something different and inspiring, and I want other people to be able to do the same, not to let horrible circumstances to limit their abilities to a lower standards. I had an amazing parents and great guidance system - my faith. What I was missing was my freedom to learn things through my own experience and make my own choices. I literally felt like a tiger in the cage. At eighteen I was finally able to make my own decisions, and by nineteen I was managing a construction crew. Eventually I wound up modeling for Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

T: Tell me about the accident

J: At nineteen I was very naive. I went to a bar one night, and probably got roofied. On my way back home I started feeling weak and finally blacked out at the Pen Station in front of the train car. Shortly after I woke up face down on top of the train car catwalk. I looked around and did notice that hair on my right arm were standing up, but I didn’t put two and two together, because I was too disoriented and groggy to evaluate the situation I was in. I just wanted to get off the train top. There were the steps down, and I looked to my right for something to stabilize myself. There was a small metal rod on a side and I reached over. 13800 volts of electricity ripped through my body the moment my hand wrapped around that metal rod. Immediately my entire body was in agony and caught on fire. My blood boiled to 985 degrees, and I screamed until I ran out of the oxygen, than I died…. I woke up from the dead moment later, gasped for the air and was terrified to realize that I was breathing fire. Flames were all over my face choking my airways. The clothes I was wearing were burning away and plastick backpack was melting on my raw skin. Through the pain I was ordering myself not going to let go and fight for my life! With the last bit of energy my left hand ripped the right one off the rod, and my body hurdled head down to the ground. I remember my face smashing into the cold, hard concrete, and shockingly it felt like hitting a foam pillow. Absolutely nothing could be compared to being burnt on fire and melting from inside out. I still was alive but just, panting for breath and hurting everywhere. I tried to get rid of backpack I still had on, and melted skin from my back peeled away with it. Well, at that point people were running towards me from all directions, and I looked like a bloody zombie. With churned hair, no skin and 60 percent of burned body I was absolutely unrecognizable, and my Dad later on in the hospital was able to identify only my blue eyes. I was burned alive on that wire, and my heart stopped there for a first time. Firefighters asked me later if I’m still alive, and I said: “I’m still here…” There was no reason for me to be alive, and I was given two days to live, but I’m still here…. It’s all in my book…..

T: What was going on through your mind?

J: Two months in coma, countless surgeries, shock to realize that I’ve lost my arm. It made me very angry at what happened to me, and I started spiraling out of control. There were times when I didn’t want to go on, but there were so many people who were supporting me and preventing me from quitting on myself. Finally I understood that I owed them not to quit but to rebuild myself and my life with new realities and new purpose. I still struggled, and was very angry at my circumstances, and even at God for allowing me to suffer that much. Few years later I got a DUI and was sent back to my parents’ house to sober up it felt like I was back to the old days - no radio, no TV. I’m glad I was able to pull through, though it wasn’t easy.

T: What makes you get up and go every morning. There are so many people who would have given up if they would’ve gone through even a quarter of what you had to deal with?

J: I’ve lost two months of my life laying in coma. I guess I needed that time to heel not just my wounds, but also my spirit. For many months after the accident my mind didn’t accept what happened to me. When it finally sunk in, I no longer wanted to live. I was trying to die, but people who were around wouldn't let me. Every time I tried to escape my life while being in agony and pain, there always were people who would stop me and show their love, strength and support. I had no choice but to accept what had happened to me and face absolutely uncertain future. I’ve got to live for them, because it’s the best way to say “Thank You” for what they have done. My family’s love and care gave me the strength I needed to rewire myself and create new life and new blueprint. Their unwavering support opened up new possibilities, and I started to believe that I had a reason to survive because there was no other explanation why I still was alive and breathing. Trust me! No matter what life throws at you there is always hope around the corner. The most important things in life are balance and right choices. I’ve made a decision that no matter what happens to me I will never back down, and I will never quit. It’s either all, or nothing for me. I choose to think positive, creative thoughts and guard my mind from negativity. Where there is the will, there is always a way, right? Never take “NO” for an answer! Use what’s available to you to dig yourself out of the hole if you fall into one. Don’t fear other people judging you. They aren’t the one living your life. Be real, put your heart on the table and take back your dignity. I’ve learned how to focus my mind on positive thoughts, because eventually thoughts become things, and I began to think even more positively about my future. Through coaching and motivational speaking I was able to help more people. The most important things is that setbacks are just temporary, as long as we won’t let them define us as failures. I truly believe and always tell this to others: The only choice you can make to ensure your success is the choice to never, ever give up!

T: Jesse, what would you like to say to those people who will be reading this story?

J: Well, I want to be remembered as an unrealistic fighter. A man who never quits. I willed myself to get out of the hospital bed, to start living again, get on national TV, and to top it all off to inspire others around the world to keep fighting. I’d like it very much, if those, who will read my story, will ask themselves how they want to be remembered and work on their own blueprints accordingly.

Well, we were done with the interview, and here are my final thoughts.

After surviving 13,800 volts electrocution, 2 months in a coma, and 13 surgeries – including arm amputation, skin grafting, vein rerouting and bone, muscle, tissue and nerve repairs – Jesse Sink refused to give up, learned again how to walk, talk, write, and kick ass.

Twelve years later after doctors labeled him "beyond repair,” Jesse Sink is a fitness trainer, model, bodybuilder and motivational speaker. He is inspiring others who are struggling to not just survive, but to thrive, live through the pain, find balance and make the right choices

The excruciating pain from electrocuting accident left burned scars on his torso, but that same pain molded his character and made him not just say but live his own words: "Rise out of ashes, and fly as high as you can - no matter what."

Jesse Sink does just that...

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