CHANGING JOBS:
Injury opens DORS to computer programming
- NOT PUBLISHED -
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon @ fredericknewspost . com
FREDERICK — The day Derek Taylor broke his neck on the job in 1996, he wasn't supposed to be there. His boss persuaded him to work with overtime pay.
He was 18 years old and had graduated from South Carroll High School three months earlier. A lifeguard, Mr. Taylor practiced a shallow water rescue that dropped him from a 6-foot platform into about 3 feet of water, an exercise he had practiced more than 30 times over the past year.
Instead of landing flat on his abdomen as he was trained to do, his body dipped forward, causing his head to pierce the shallow water. His skull found the concrete floor, transferring enough force to crush the fifth vertebra in his neck.
Mr. Taylor, who now lives in Frederick, was instantly paralyzed from the chest down and lost much of the use of his hands and arms.
“If I had to do it again, knowing the outcome, I still would have jumped,” he said earlier this month.
Two life-changing events happened as a result of his injury — his perspective changed and he entered the computer programming industry.
Support from Maryland State Department of Education's Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) helped Mr. Taylor deal with the injury.
“During recovery, I learned more about myself than I thought possible and it changed my attitude about a lot of things,” he said. “I learned patience and compassion.”
He also learned to have a sense of humor. While shopping for a Christmas tree one year, he fell out of his wheelchair as his wife pushed.
“I don't know what she hit, but the front wheels got jammed and I took a spill into the snow,” he said. “I take a spill about once a month, but you learn to roll with it.”
DORS placed him at a bank, where he worked his way up to manager.
Mr. Taylor worked around his disability, and his workspace required no special accommodations.
“I learned to manipulate the mouse by turning it sideways,” he explained. “I rotate my wrist to click the buttons with my thumb, and I use my knuckles to type.”
He later realized he didn't want to work in finance and returned to DORS for additional training. He studied psychology, sociology and elementary education before realizing his dream job in computer programming.
“Without the funding from DORS, I would not have been able to go back to school and live my dream,” he said. ”