Accident survivor finds full miracle in partial recovery

Park We, a Korean YouTuber who runs the channel WERACLE, talks to the JoongAng Ilbo on April 6 at his house in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [WOO SANG-JO]

Park We believes in miracles.

In May 2014, Park was celebrating his acceptance of a job offer with friends. The next thing he knew, it was five days later and he was in a hospital bed.

After drinking too much, Park suffered a 3-meter (10-foot) fall from a building and damaged his spine so badly he was paralyzed from the neck down.

“I knew my body was there," Park recalls, "but I couldn’t feel anything."

Park's family visited every hospital in Seoul with his MRIs, hoping to get a better prognosis. The best they heard: “It will be a miracle if he can ever move his arms.”

Park confesses it was difficult to accept his situation.

“Right after the accident, I hoped that people would see me as a person who is in a wheelchair temporarily," he says. "I desperately wanted to have those urine bags taken away.”

Park was an athletic person who even visited Britain to see the football clubs he dreamed of joining. For someone who enjoyed energetic sports, the slowness of his recovery was torture.

A month after the accident, he was only able to slightly move his pinky.

Park says his goal at the time was to be able to go through his day "without getting help from others."

Eight years have passed. People now refer to Park as a “superman.”

It took two years for Park to move his left thumb around and be able to hold a 200 gram (0.44 pound) smartphone.

Today he uses his two hands to do push-ups and even attempts pull-ups.

In 2019, Park decided to start his YouTube channel, WERACLE, to encourage disabled people like him to never give up. It's also meant to show the non-disabled how even a person in a wheelchair can live a life filled with gratitude.

WERACLE is a combination of Park’s name and the word miracle. We is also meant to include the rest of humanity.

In just over three years, WERACLE has more than 357,000 subscribers.

One of his popular videos titled “Challenge to ride a bus on a wheelchair” had been viewed over 4.5 million times as of Tuesday.

In his YouTube videos, Park shows very intimate scenes of himself changing clothes and even using the bathroom to change people’s views of the disabled.

“Getting used to how people see me was a part of my rehabilitation," says Park. "I kept telling myself that my life is not wrong, it’s just a different life.”

People with disabilities and patients in wheelchairs often comment on Park’s videos.

"It's been 15 years since I've been in a wheelchair after a one-time mistake. I empathize with every word you say. Thank you for the video. I am sure better days are ahead of us," read a comment on his YouTube channel.

Park is particularly gratified when he receives comments on his videos or e-mails on how his story inspires other people.

“After the accident, every moment that I took for granted feels like a miracle," he says. "I realized that every moment I am alive is a miracle.”

BY SUK GYEONG-MIN [kjdnational@joongang.co.kr]