June | 2015 | China Quad Diaries

As many of my friends and family know I have arrived safely in Raleigh North Carolina and have been living here for almost a month now.

I have many great and some challenging memories of the last 2 1/2 years in Kunming participating in the walking program and just generally living in China. At the moment I am working towards building a new life here in Raleigh with finding caregivers, getting an apartment set up, meeting new people, etc.

I apologize I’ve not written sooner, but as you can imagine moving a quad across the ocean is quite an undertaking! On my journey across I had my mother and my biggest brother take me 30 hours to get back to the United States. It was quite an interesting experience trying to transfer a quad onto an airplane as many of my handicap friends will understand.

I have to say I’m going through a mild culture shock at the moment being back in the United States, but like with any new situation, it will just take some time to adapt.

I plan on starting a new blog over the next several months in Raleigh on the topic of adventures in Raleigh with a twist of educational information for fellow SCI folks on SCI research, pressure sore care, wheelchair issues, etc. I also found it challenging when researching on websites for SCI that there are not more practical guides on how to do something or deal with a particular situation right away. I have to develop my thoughts further on how to approach this new blog, but I will definitely keep everyone updated through my Facebook. You can find me on Facebook at Ali Ingersoll. I will also be posting updates for my Facebook account on a regular basis.

CONTACT information: please feel free to e-mail me moving forward at Ali@Ingersoll.org or you can call my cell phone at 919-395-1491 if you have any questions or want to talk about anything with me.

To end this blog I thought I would post a series of photos from my last few days in Kunming where the whole rehabilitation team attended a party we hosted for them at the rehab center, which included a lot of food and even some dancing.

I also spent my last weekend in Kunming going ice skating… Yes you heard me right! There is an ice skating rink on the fifth floor of this very large mall and at first the staff did not want to let me put my wheelchair on the ice and skate or rather be pushed around the ice.

We came to a very interesting compromise where they said I would be able to free skate around the rink with everybody if at first I would be the centerpiece for an ice show. They put me in the middle of the ice rink where I waved and smiled while multiple ice skate dancers skated around me with a whole light show. It was probably the most amusing thing I had done in Kunming since I had arrived other than maybe going to see the little people.

I also have some wonderful videos that I’ve uploaded on Facebook for you to have a look at: https://www.facebook.com/ali.ingersoll/videos_by Please let me know if you cannot view the videos and I will upload them directly to the blog.

Enjoy the photos and I want to thank many of you would’ve been such tremendous support for me since I broke my neck and the last several years over in China. I keep in touch with most of you but those of you who only get information through my blog please feel free to reach out to me anytime.

再见 and goodbye!

QUAD ICE-SKATING