Aaron Balcom

Daredevil Illusionist / Actor, Aaron Balcom has appeared on ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, Fox Family Channel, NHK, NBC, PBS, ProSieben, truTV & WB television networks.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

A career in the entertainment industry, as an actor / Daredevil Illusionist, which spanned over 20 years.

Live international stage, television & movie appearances.

Performer of the largest illusion ever attempted in history.

Successfully performed the one escape that eluded even the great Harry Houdini, being buried alive.

And it all came to a crashing halt in 2014, while rehearsing an escape stunt for my own reality show, which was set to premiere later that year.

The equipment malfunctioned, resulting in neck, spinal & multiple brain injuries, leaving me paralyzed & not expected to live.

Yet, all these years later, while my recovery is still ongoing, I have made tremendous progress & am now working on finishing up the book to tell the entire whirlwind of my life story, with emphasis on my life since the accident & how I have learned to adapt.

The main focus is to inspire others, no matter what the challenges they face, to work hard, keep pushing, fight & most importantly, to NEVER GIVE UP...!

All proceeds will be donated to paraplegic, quadriplegic & neurological injury research, in general.

I look forward to getting the finishing touches on this wrapped up & if reading it changes the outlook for even one person, then my entire journey will have been well worth it...!

never.give.up.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@OloyeSomorin @the_beardedsina @hopefulgracy As a quadriplegic, I feel the same...! 🙏🏾

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

Feeling very happy & fulfilled having done this speaking event earlier. I tried a few new things, as I seek to get the "formula" down as to exactly how I want these things to go.

I hope that it helped those there who are like me, working to recover from their injuries, as well as their families & that they will take advantage of the resources we made available to them.

As happy as I am from doing the event, this one really took a lot out of me & has my head spinning. Not so much from the event itself, but after.

As is so often the case, I am told the stories of others who have had similar, life changing injuries. Every one of them that I hear is meaningful to me, they all upset me & I pray for each of them & their families.

But, the one I heard today, really hit me hard & has just left me devastated.

The woman who put the event together at the facility was telling me about a woman's accident & the whole thing just really got to me.

I think it's a combination of just what happened, combined with the many parelells between our stories & the fact that despite me not having heard about her situation prior to today, I put two & two together, realizing that our families knew each other.

The whole thing has just made me realize that it's just such a small world & I am not doing nearly enough for this "community" (that none of us signed up for, nor really want to be a part of) of fellow quadriplegics / neurological injury survivors.

It's time to brainstorm & figure out how to kick my outreach into overdrive...!

never.give.up.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

Took my early morning "beating" at physical therapy. 🤣

Now, getting ready to "hit the road" to speak at my event today, for others like me, who are working to recover from life changing injuries, as well as their families / support teams.

They are all also quadriplegic, but each one of them are in a difficult place, where they have given up hope for meaningful recovery.

I can relate, I have been there. And that is why it is so important for me to speak to & with them today. Even though I haven't met them yet, I just know that they are all amazing, strong people who have "what it takes", to not only make progress, but cross the finish line in their recoveries.

Today, I hope to inspire each of them to work hard, fight harder, keep defying what their doctors tell them is possible, but most importantly to...

never.give.up.

#quadriplegic #quadriplegia

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@SCVegas That is was better decades ago...

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

I strongly suspect I have been encountering an NPC for almost a year now. I didn't put it together until earlier this week, I just thought he was a little odd. I see him at a doctor's office that I go to, maybe every other visit or so. This last week, they're getting me out of the car & he's in the parking lot, walking repetitively around what I assume is his car. Twice he almost ran into the side of it. Then, inside, he starts talking to me (which he usually does...ugh), he knows my condition, sees me in the wheelchair, etc. Proceeds to ask me, "So what do you do for fitness? Do you do a lot of swimming? Bicycle riding? Running? Hiking?" I told him that I am not able to do any of that. He asked me the question again. Such a strange encounter, from the parking lot, to do waiting room...! I mean, I know I am healing & getting better, but what a weird thing to ask a quadriplegic...! 🤣

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@brandilwells They're crooks, to put it mildly.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@PamelaBies I never had mine removed (dentist wanted to years ago), I've never had any issues with them & don't regret leaving them in.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

Oh, how true this is & getting worse all the time. For me, it's a unique experience, because in many ways, I am "stuck" in 2014, right before my accident & the last time that I was able to be out in society, in a normal capacity & on a regular basis. Back then, I thought things were bad. Now, I look at things & compare it to what I am used to (2014 & earlier) and it's shocking to me at how downhill things have gone & think to myself, "things weren't so bad back then after all".

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@MASKEDMANIACXXX 10...it's weird, wonky, wiley and I love it ...! 🤣

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@ScienceFocusonX I have been researching and considering this type of route for quadriplegia and neurological injury to help me to the next phase of my recovery.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@HorrorHammer1 Ahhhhhh...! 🤣

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@pr0ud_americans Caddy, always and forever. My family has always driven them and I have a few classics in storage that I hope to be able to drive again someday.

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@StrengthLe49497 I agree 100% in regard to the power of plants in healing. As a sidenote, I just wanted to say that your Native Strength videos are amazing & they have helped me tremendously during my still ongoing recovery journey. Wishing you all the best, always...!

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

And from there, things only spiraled further out of control when she began insisting that I have gray popping up on the sides of my hair... 🤣

Me: That's just the sun shining off of my hair.
Her: Yeah, off of the gray in your hair!
Me: I do not have one single gray hair. It is still all jet black.

...Her laughing & snorting at that was not necessary!

But then, she hit me with the knockout compliment...

Her: If you comb your hair like you did last week, with the gray in the sides, you look just like your dad did when he was your age.

Ugh...she knows. Compare me to my biological father, that's the highest compliment I can receive & I will give in every time...!

Me: Okay, maybe there's one or two gray hairs in there somewhere.

🤣

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

Miss Gina is here helping me put the finishing touches on the new format for my speaking event tomorrow...

Me: I hope that my hair settles down before tomorrow, this humidity is making it extra wild.
Her: It's cute.
Me: It's not cute, it needs to settle down.
Her: You should do it like you did last week, that one day when we went out.
Me (laughing): Do you realize how much work that was? There was about eight pounds of hair grease on my hair.
Her: I liked it.
Me (still laughing): It looked like Elvis out of 1956.
Her (biting her lip): I know.

Um...?! 🤣

https://t.co/uDmmqxVjgU

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@Oceanbreeze473 Of course...!

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@brandilwells So beautiful...!

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

@buuvva_ Absolutely...!

[Aaron Balcom @DaredevilMagic]

Whenever I have a "bad day" during my ongoing recovery, I remind myself that my bad day, is someone else in my condition's good day.

That, while my recovery is far from where I want it to be, there are others who have not yet achieved the levels of recovery that I have.

Many of these people are my friends.
Many have become like family.
She is my girlfriend.

And they are the many other quadriplegics, paraplegics & those with neurological injuries, that I am told about, that I read about & I pray for each & every one of them, regardless of whether or not I know them.

So again, whenever I have a bad day, I remind myself that there are those who are not yet where I am at in their recovery. And it makes me feel better, not so much for myself, but more for them, as it gives me hope that they too will continue to progress in their recovery journeys, just as I have...!

never.give.up.