Episode #442: How to Survive and Thrive with Courage, Resilience, and Determination with Kenneth Kunken

Podcast: Download (Duration: 45:48 — 28.4MB)

Ken Kunken has a truly remarkable and inspirational story of courage, resilience, determination, and strength of the human spirit.

Ken broke his neck playing football for Cornell University in 1970, leaving him almost completely paralyzed from the shoulders down. After a long hospitalization, he returned to Cornell and completed his degree in engineering. He then earned a Master of Arts degree at Cornell in education, and a Master of Education degree at Columbia in psychology.

He became a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor and worked for more than 2 years at Abilities, Inc., where he provided vocational and placement counseling for severely disabled individuals. Wanting to accomplish still more, Ken enrolled in Hofstra University’s school of Law and worked for more than 40 years as a Nassau County assistant district attorney, where he became a Deputy Bureau Chief.

Ken’s memoir is titled “I Dream of Things That Never Were: The Ken Kunken Story,” and was published in October 2023. He and his lovely wife Anna are the proud parents of triplet boys.

Ken shares his experience of trying to navigate his own healing as well as his new reality in an era where little was known about spinal cord injuries, and little to no hope of creating a productive life was presented by the medical community. He describes the many challenges of returning to Columbia in a time before the ADA was established and having navigate around a campus with was not wheelchair accessible. With the help and support of his friends, family, and his many caregivers, Ken managed to achieve what all of the medical “experts’ had deemed impossible.

He shares many pearls of wisdom including how to make the most of a bad situation, that life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans, just because it has not been done before, does not mean, you cannot do it now, maintaining high expectations for yourself as well as for others, and the importance of giving back and helping others.

Download this powerful and inspiring episode to hear Ken’s story and discover the power of surviving and thriving with courage, resilience, and determination. Such a powerful story of inspiration against all odds!

                                         

Connect with Ken:

https://kenkunken.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566473121422

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdUUa2hyQF8ubUmEARY9WKA

https://www.instagram.com/ken.kunken/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-j-kunken-b4b0a9a8/

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