Here’s a feel good story from The GMP. We dare you not to smile.
If you’ve ever wondered what true happiness looks like, this is it.
After falling 35 feet to the ground, 25-year-old Ryan Chen became instantly paralyzed from the waist down and suffered a spine cord injury. He uses a wheelchair to move about, but hasn’t let his limitations stop him from living — or crowd surfing.
Chen snuck into the Outside Lands Music Festival last year with filmmaker friend James Marcus Haney, who Chen says “really has been the source of adventure in my life.”
In 2011, Chen and Haney became friends with Young the Giant and thought it would be a cool experience if Chen crowdsurfed during the song “My Body,” which, with lyrics like “My body tells me no, but I won’t quit,” has great significance to Chen.
Young the Giant members even commented on the photo, saying it was “pretty amazing” to see Chen propped up on that wheelchair and surfing the crowd:
Ryan has an incredible attitude about life and is almost always the happiest person in the room.
With a simple, one-word caption, “Happiness,” this picture embodies everything I ever want to feel.
Originally appeared at Elite Daily
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/Reddit, Elite Daily
About the author: Alexia La Fata. Alexia is a Writer for Elite Daily and one of the most inquisitive people you will ever meet. Currently a senior at Boston College, Alexia is really bad at movies (except documentaries because she obsessively watches those), controlling her portion sizes, being appropriately affectionate towards animals, tweeting, and hiding her feelings. She’s a classic ENFJ who was once described as “painfully enthusiastic” — and is still mulling over it. You can e-mail her at [email protected] or check out more of her writing at http://alexialafata.com. Or do both.