Cruise Bogle is a 35-year-old quadriplegic who experienced a Spinal Cord Injury on December 16th, 2008, at the age of 19. After his injury, Cruise has gone on to become an accomplished mouth painting artist, clothing designer, motivational force, and an integral part of his local community. His resilience and positivity have inspired thousands of people across the world.
In 1988 the Johnston Bogle family began a two-year cruise aboard their 36 foot sailboat, Lethe. They left Portland Maine, headed south down the East Coast of the United States and through the Caribbean with two daughters ages nine and two. In the Virgin Islands Billie (mom) tried to blame the water for her morning sickness but it quickly became clear that a third Bogle was on the way. While continuing to travel south they checked out hospitals and birthing facilities and on November 11, 1989 Cruise was born on the island of Bonaire, just off the coast of Venezuela. In the womb he was jokingly called Cruise or Cruiser and upon his arrival there was no better name.
Cruise started his journey in a fashion that would carry on throughout his life as a unique, adventurous and loved individual. His young childhood was spent on and off a boat and also in the small island community of Peaks Island, Maine. At age 10 the family moved to Delray Beach, Florida where Cruise continued being homeschooled and playing soccer. His passion for the sport led him to play on a competitive travel team for many years.At age 15 he decided to give public school a try and also played for the schools soccer team. He then became interested in new and different things and spent the majority of his time at the beach learning how to surf, skim board and also picked up a job life guarding at the local pool. In May 2008 he graduated from Atlantic High School in Delray Beach and on a Bright Futures Scholarship he left home and started his first semester at Tallahassee Community College. He had hopes of entering the firefighting program, but started with core classes while he waited for an opening in the course.
In December 2008, Cruise came home for a winter break from school that would change his life forever. Within the first week of his return he lost a friend to a drug overdose. On December 16th he and his friends attended the funeral in the morning and then headed to the beach to reminisce. Cruise then started skim boarding with another friend like he had done many times before, but this time when he cut into the wave his board slipped out from underneath him and he fell backwards and hit his head on the hard sand.
His friends on the beach thought he was joking as he lay in the water until a wave flipped him over and he still wasn’t moving. His friend Joey pulled him out of the water and he was then rushed to Delray Medical Center. After multiple x-rays, CAT scans and MRIs he was sent into emergency surgery for the next 6 hours. They replaced his C4 vertebrae with a titanium cage and four titanium pins to stabilize his neck. In a split second Cruise had been paralyzed from the neck down. He spent the next two weeks in the Delray ICU Trauma Unit and then on December 31st he was airlifted to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for rehab. He remained there for the next 2 1/2 months, working hard to be strong enough to return home.
Cruise made great progress in the first few months and with a C4 injury he was lucky to be breathing on his own. He was on a ventilator that kept him stable for the first several weeks, and eventually weaned off the tracheostomy at the beginning of February. He was unable to speak for six weeks until his strength came back and he could speak around the trach. The experience at Shepherd Center was amazing; each patient had a team of therapists and nurses that provided daily care. Once Cruise was out of the ICU, his inpatient rehabilitation program consisted of three hours of physical and occupational therapies along with several other appointments throughout the day including speech therapy, recreational therapy, assistive technology and counseling. Once a week he could participate in a community outing and also had the opportunity to observe sports teams and participate in research studies.
When he arrived at the Shepherd Center he could only slightly shrug his shoulders and had some movement in his neck. Over time he strengthened his neck and shoulder muscles and gained weak contractions in his biceps and deltoids. His spirits were amazing despite going through such an intense trauma; he was the same old Cruise – joking and laughing through his days. The incredible support from friends, family and everyone at the Shepherd Center made this journey much easier for Cruise and his family. Cruise was discharged from inpatient rehab on Thursday, March 5th and spent a week in the “Day Program”, where he worked along with his family in a “home” environment in preparation for heading to his real home. On March 17th, 2009 Cruise finished his last day of the “Day Program” and flew back to Delray Beach the following day.
Cruise attended a specialized gym in Palm Beach called “Center for Neuro Recovery” 5 days a week in order to work on building strength and regaining mobility and independence. After several years, he gained significant strength in his shoulders, core and even enough strength in his right arm to manipulate and use his phone in his lap and also drive his wheelchair via hand joystick for short periods of time. Cruise has used assistive technology to follow a few endeavors since his accident, from producing music in his home studio to directing and editing music videos to starting an urban clothing line, to a YouTube interview series called ‘Paralyze This’, he continues working hard to make things happen for himself! His latest and current businesses are an apparel company made up of his mouth painted designs on different styles of garments as well as using his art to pursue different avenues such as an NFT (digital art) project via a crypto currency block chain.
In Cruises first year of injury, his insurance was billed $1,193,150. They paid $596,863. The Bogle family paid $45,291 out-of-pocket. These costs do not include his wheelchair which cost approximately $30,000, his wheelchair accessible van which cost another $30,000, the addition to the house so he could have an accessible room and bathroom, medical supplies and an assistant that are necessary for his daily care. Many of these costs will be ongoing throughout Cruises life which is why we put so much effort into fundraising. Without the help of our friends, family and community, these costs would be even more devastating.
Costs related to Cruises daily needs:
