Chloe B Babauta

cbabauta@guampdn.com

JR Vigil, who was once an avid runner, crashed his car into a pole in July 2011. He lost both of his legs.

Vigil lost control of his car, which ran off the roadway before colliding with a pole by the Hagåtña McDonald’s, according to Pacific Daily News files. He was transported to Naval Hospital Guam, where he lay in a coma for a month.

“I don’t remember anything about it — that’s the good thing,” he says.

The week before the accident, Vigil was in the process of starting his own business, a coffee-roasting company. He had just gotten approved for a loan, he says.

“Next thing you know I’m waking up at a hospital in the Philippines at St. Luke’s asking my parents what happened,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it. They had to show me the front page of the paper.”

Vigil left the scene of the crash unconscious and unresponsive.

“The car split in half,” he says. “The impact just shut everything in my body down. My lungs collapsed, my liver stopped, my kidney stopped, my gallbladder quit, my spleen was damaged, I fractured my hip and my shoulder, and then I had a traumatic brain injury also.”

While in a coma, his organs started to function again. But surgeons told Vigil’s parents his legs and feet were crushed. If he kept his legs, he’d have to live in pain, he says.

Vigil underwent a double above-the-knee amputation.

“At the time of the accident, running was pretty much my life,” he says. “I was a runner. I ran like 30 miles a week.”

Vigil says he was training for the Guam Ko’ko’ Road Race in October of 2011 before the accident. He used to train six days a week.

“I wanted to come in under 1:30,” he says. “And I didn’t like training on the treadmill because that’s boring, so I liked the fact that on Guam, you can run for five miles and be in the next village.”

(Story continues below.)

Recovery

It took about two years for Vigil to recover physically, he says. He worked with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to get microprocessor-controlled knees, which are programmable to work with each individual user to help them walk.

But after Vigil got his prosthetics, he realized his life still wouldn’t be what it was.

“In my mind, I thought I was going to be back to normal with these advanced prosthetics, and so once I got the microprocessor knees, the reality hit me,” he says. “I’m still limited, as mobile as I am, I’m still limited, and so depression kind of hit in.”

Vigil chose to move to California because it was too expensive to go back and forth between the mainland and Guam for healthcare, which was unavailable on island. He needs to get fittings for his legs every two to three years, and it takes about a month for the entire fitting.

He also had to leave because it was too painful to stay on Guam, with reminders of his old life everywhere. He moved to the island with his family when he was in middle school and later became a University of Guam graduate.

“Driving around everywhere on Guam, because I ran everywhere on the roads, you know, Tamuning and Tumon, it just reminded me of all my running spots.”

(Story continues below.)

A new start

Now Vigil lives in Orange County, California and has started his own clothing brand called Jr. Varsity. He says he made the clothing line after he noticed there was a market for short, slim and active men, like himself.

After teaching himself how to design and sew and taking many trips up to Los Angeles to buy fabric, he was able to start his own business.

Part of his proceeds from the company go to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that helps disabled people pursue an active lifestyle. The foundation has helped him get his own prosthetic running legs, which will help him get back into his passion of running.

Moving on with life after the accident, Vigil says one of the most important lessons he’s learned is to not let any limitations get in the way of his life.

“Pursue your dreams, go out there and try, you’re going to fail for sure, and if you get knocked down like I did, you just get back up and keep going,” he says.

Although he lives in California now, he says he'll always have love for Guam.

"Of course, I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my parents, friends, boss and coworkers, and the Division of Vocational Rehab," he says. "I owe so much to the people of Guam for their help in getting me back on my feet — or in getting a pair of new feet!"

READ MORE:

Fit for Life: Hormone replacement therapy

Patisserie PariSco owner pursues wedding cake dreams