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Man paralyzed in tragic accident changes lives through his gym: “They have a purpose”
A tragic accident changed Mark Raymond Jr.’s life eight years ago, but it hasn’t stopped him from helping and inspiring others just like him.
Raymond described it as a normal day during the Fourth of July weekend in 2016.
“What was different was mom was not there to scream, ‘Mark, don’t dive off the boat,'” he said.
Raymond hit his head on the sandy bottom of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. After the terrifying moment, he said he couldn’t move.
Raymond’s best friend rescued him. He woke up a few weeks later from a medically induced coma after fracturing the fifth vertebrae in his neck, which left him paralyzed and no longer able to walk or fully use his hands.
Raymond could only imagine what his future now held.
“Am I still going to find love? Am I still going to, you know, have friends,” he wondered.
After the accident, Raymond went from being a social butterfly and an outdoorsmen to a loner, saying he suffered from suicidal thoughts and depression for a time.
Road to recovery
While scrolling through Instagram one day, Raymond found a rehabilitation facility in California.
“Seeing a room of empty wheelchairs and people doing things that doctors told me I couldn’t do, that effort to challenge the norm, to go the extra mile was really, I think what hooked me,” he said.
Raymond spent three months at the facility. After just the first month, he said he knew he needed to bring a similar program to the New Orleans area.
Inspiring and changing lives
Today, the 35-year-old’s workouts focus on making adjustments for seated equipment.
Two years after his accident, Raymond started the Split Second Foundation. In 2021, he opened his gym in New Orleans. It was a decision he made not only for himself, but for others with different needs.
His hero, the friend who pulled him out of the water, suggested the name of the gym, because Raymond’s life changed in a split second.
Raymond said he has a range of clients.
“We’ve got strokes. We’ve got spinal cord injuries. We’ve got cerebral palsy.”
Next year, the gym will move into a building with five times more space. Raymond said he wants to push his clients to get better in a supportive environment.
“We want them to gain, but most importantly, we want them to feel like they belong, like they have a purpose, like they have a home.”
As for goals of his own, he would like to get back on a boat again soon.
“This is Louisiana. Louisiana’s ‘Sportsman’s Paradise,'” he said. “I want a boat I could roll this chair on and still roll around the boat a little bit and have a good time.”
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Tupperware files for bankruptcy amid slumping sales
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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JD Vance echoes Trump, blames Democrats for apparent assassination attempt
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