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After a spinal cord injury, Brom Wikstrom found hope through mouth painting, using art to transform his life. His journey shows how creativity can spark recovery and global recognition.
Key takeaways
- Transform limitations into strengths by following Brom Wikstrom’s example of mouth painting after injury.
- Unlock emotional healing through creative expression, as Brom did to overcome post-injury depression.
- Demonstrate that perseverance and passion can lead to international recognition, regardless of challenges faced.
Summary
Finding purpose after a spinal cord injury is possible, as Brom Wikstrom’s inspiring journey shows. Paralyzed at 22 after a diving accident, Brom discovered hope through mouth painting, transforming his physical limitations into a powerful form of self-expression. His commitment to creating art not only provided emotional healing but also opened doors to international exhibits, demonstrating that creativity can lead to both personal recovery and worldwide recognition.
Brom Wikstrom’s story highlights that even after a life-changing spinal cord injury, embracing creativity can restore purpose and joy. Through art, he overcame depression and rebuilt a fulfilling life — proof that with perseverance, passions can flourish despite adversity. For anyone facing obstacles, Brom’s experience is a reminder not to give up on your dreams and to find strength in pursuing what you love.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full Transcript:
[00:00:00] When you’re painting, it doesn’t matter whether you’re painting with your hands or with your mouth or your feet.
[00:00:08] The thing about creating artwork is I’m not sure where it comes from. My dad was, uh, an art director, uh, here in Seattle, so it was always so exciting,[00:00:24] uh, to go up into his studio at home to see what he was working on. And decided that I wanted to be an artist when I was barely into my teens.
[00:00:33] I really was fascinated by travel, and New Orleans drew me in. I was always a big music fan, especially jazz.
[00:00:42] It was mid-July, and it was getting hotter by the day, and so I
[00:00:48] decided I would cool off by taking a plunge into the Mississippi. I dove in headfirst and ended up probably, uh, diving into
[00:00:57] about 3 inches of water. My life changed in the blink of an eye. I was only 22 years old.
[00:01:17] I wanted to believe that I could just go to the hospital and they would fix this, but I knew that this was a permanent condition that I had just done to myself,
[00:01:27] and it was terrifying to not know whether I was going to be able to survive this.
[00:01:33] There were some very dark times for me there at the beginning. During my occupational therapy sessions, I would use a stick in my mouth, and I
[00:01:42] could turn pages in books and magazines. I could operate a keyboard. Towards the end of my, uh, hospital stay, I started using a paintbrush.
[00:01:58] I would paint 10, 12 hours a day, and just stuck with it and kind of channeled a lot
[00:02:05] of frustration, a lot of anxieties, uh, into producing, uh, this artwork.
[00:02:11] What I found with doing my artwork was that it helped me to, uh, recover. That
[00:02:18] I was feeling very low, very depressed, scared about what the future might hold for me, but when I put a brush in my
[00:02:27] mouth and I started creating, and I started feeling like my old self again, I felt
[00:02:33] like I could have some purpose in life. When my wife and I got together, she opened up some, uh, doors to a happy life that I had thought, uh, probably was going
[00:02:53] to elude me for quite some time. She helped me to realize how precious life is, and that even though I have,
[00:03:01] uh, diminished abilities with my body, I can still have a functioning life in
[00:03:07] spite of these limitations that I have. Yeah, so this is, uh, this is a self-portrait, back as my hair was starting to turn gray.
[FL1] [00:03:25] We now have had exhibits of my work in China and Australia, all over Europe.
[00:03:32] I did a painting demonstration for Andy Warhol. I never would’ve thought that simply by painting with my mouth,
[00:03:41] and being willing to share that at art festivals and visits to schools and things, would create opportunities for me to show my work on a national,
[00:03:52] and now an international, level. I think probably one of the biggest lessons that people could learn from my
[00:03:57] story is to not give up on your dreams. It’s been very satisfying and very gratifying to know that even
[00:04:05] though I had this horrible, uh, accident happen, that I could still have a very full and satisfying life.
