ROCKINGHAM — Kandace Frye celebrated entering adulthood earlier this month, despite being 26 years old.
Frye, who can be found zipping around FirstHealth Fitness and showing off her upper-body strength by climbing up and down the facility’s stairs, celebrated her fifth year of being in a wheelchair — the official amount of time it takes to reach adulthood recognized by the community that relies on them.
To many, it wouldn’t be a cause for celebration. But for the FirstHealth membership representative, it’s little things like this that keep her motivated to share her story. A story of overcoming great odds, living fearlessly and hoping to inspire others who face daily hardships.
On Jan. 10, 2014, Frye was a backseat passenger in an automobile accident on Ghio Road in Hamlet. Sitting behind the driver not wearing a seatbelt, the vehicle flipped multiple times as Frye remained conscious during the entire ordeal, “remembering everything.”
According to Frye, the three other passengers in the vehicle “walked away” from the accident. But she suffered a T-4 spinal cord injury, which left her “paralyzed from the mid-chest down with no sensation.”
For over a month, she recuperated and rehabbed at UNC Chapel Hill, before returning to what became her new normal on Valentine’s Day.
Her new lifestyle wasn’t an easy one. She had to learn to adapt to being in a wheelchair and overcoming simple taskes that were once taken for granted. But she didn’t give up.
“I call my accident my second chance,” Frye said sitting in the lobby of FirstHealth Fitness. “Six or so months prior, I got involved with the wrong lifestyle — alcohol and drugs.
“Now I credit my wreck for saving me,” she smiled. “Since then, my goal has been to inspire others no matter what their adversities and challenges are.”
From something that took away her ability to walk, run and instruct fitness classes like she did at FirstHealth before her accident, Frye has planted new roots and blossomed into a symbol of strength and inspiration to many who walk through those doors and in the surrounding community.
She’s learned to accept her new life, often using her sense of humor to encourage others. From her trademark smile, to saying “ouch” when she runs into a wall even though she can’t feel it, Frye hopes that people will see her beyond her visible limitations.
“My motto is to ‘live life fearlessly’,” Frye said. “I try to use my social media accounts for people not to see just me, but to see that life rolls on after tragedies happen. I want to inspire them to keep going and not give up. I want people to know that these things don’t have to stop them from living. I want my story to be one of tragedy to triumph.
“My sense of humor is one of my biggest coping mechanisms,” she shared. “I also love to workout. I didn’t want this injury to define me, so I developed a stronger mental toughness and a newfound strength. Sometimes it takes tragedy for people to see what they really have in them.”
Another way Frye tries to share her story is through her tattoos. On her left forearm, she has the Bible verse James 1:2-3 sprawled in cursive, while her right forearm boasts another favorite moniker, “Nothing is Impossible.” With that, she has the date of her accident and a wheelchair wrapped in half of a heart as the wheel. She also “is planning another one.”
She admitted that she’s human, and has her good days and bad days just like anyone else. But what Frye tries to do instead of dwelling on the bad days is use that energy to help others. One of her biggest messages is to remind people that tomorrow isn’t promised and that they should take advantage and embrace every day they get to experience.
Now that she’s five years into her new lifestyle, Frye noted she’s “finally come to accept my injury, and that this is my life now.” Through the first couple of years, which “were rocky trying to figure out everything,” she’s now satisfied that she’s overcome the grief process and living a life that she’s happy about.
Frye skydiving, one of her newfound hobbies following her accident. Photo courtesy of Kandace Frye.
“My injury has strengthened me physically, but more so mentally,” she said. “If I can save just one person from giving up or giving in, that’s what it’s all about. People ask me why I smile all the time — it’s really that I’m thankful for being here and that I was given a second chance.”
Refusing to see the bad in it all, Frye has found herself living a “much fuller life” since that January night. She’s found an interest in extreme sports, going skydiving twice, riding in a dragster and would like to go ziplining somewhere exotic like Las Vegas.
Frye has also taken several trips, both with friends and by herself, something that was once a foreign concept. Another sporting event she enjoys is participating in half-marathons, competing it two (the All-American Half-Marathon in Fayetteville, and one in Myrtle Beach).
Once shy and soft spoken, Frye now jokes with others about her outward lifestyle.
“I make a joke with people and tell them I hit my head during the accident,” she laughed. “That’s what really made me a talker and got me doing the things I do today.”
Frye continues a rigorous workout regimen, something she attributes to helping her overcome her grief. She calls herself a “cardio junkie,” often pushing herself five, six and sometimes 10 miles if she’s preparing for an event. She can be found on the arm bike at FirstHealth, and lifting weights.
“I’m back to driving my car,” she said. “Some of my strength comes from the gym, but a lot of it comes from doing small things in everyday life.”
Besides her place of employment, Frye can be found doing outreach work across Richmond County. Feeling it as “a sort of calling,” she’s served as a guest speaker sharing her story at several local churches and schools.
She’s spoken to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Richmond Senior High School, and will speak at an upcoming women’s conference at Faith Missionary Baptist Church on Feb. 16.
“My philosophy is that ‘I’ve got a life wish’,” Frye concluded. “That wish is to help others realize that we often don’t understand our impact on others until bad things happen. I’m always looking forward to my next chapter in helping and inspiring people.”
The next chapter for Frye, personally, is going back to school. She’s currently in the beginning stages of taking classes so that one day she can be a counselor who works with people with spinal cord injuries and Wounded Warriors.
