You're eight months out from a T12 burst fracture and fusion surgery after a crash on the Belt Parkway. You use a cane on good days and a wheelchair on bad ones. Your cousin throws a birthday party in Bay Ridge, and for three seconds you stand up, smile, and someone snaps a photo that lands on Instagram. A year later, a defense lawyer slides that photo across the table at your deposition and asks why a "paralyzed man" looks so happy on his feet. This is how spinal cord injury