Being thankful for your blessings in life is what this week is all about. I for one certainly have a lot to be thankful for. In fact, this Thanksgiving I’m going to have a completely different perspective on just how lucky I am thanks to my friend Adam Lavender. You see, earlier this year I was there when Adam broke his neck and watched as he lay motionless, helpless to do anything but pray I wasn’t about to watch him die.

Luckily Adam lived after emergency surgery to stabilize the chunk of vertebrae that chipped off. He still has a long, hard road ahead of him and he’s showing the type of courage only someone who has had their life completely changed can possibly know. It is inspiring to see and something that really puts into perspective just how lucky the vast majority of us are.

It also brought to light an issue for the mountain bike community that most of us don’t like to talk about – severe spinal cord injuries. We love a sport that carries a very real risk of spinal cord injuries and they are a life changing experience for those that they happen to. Helping people that have suffered from them is a very real need and, with that in mind, I’d like to ask your help…

You see, one of the things I have to be grateful for this year is that I contributed a chapter to a book called Results Fitness that hit a few bestseller lists (I think it was 7 or 8 but who’s counting). That makes me an official “best selling author” and the proud owner of 75 copies of the book…and while I could sell the books and make a few bucks I had a much better idea.

The book is a collection of chapters from some of the top fitness professionals in the USA and Canada, including my chapter on Metabolic Skills Training: Turning Strength Training into Skills Training for Mountain Biking. There are chapters on nutrition, mindset, goal setting as well as a variety of training info – in short, it has something for everyone. I feel very fortunate to have gotten the chance to be in the book and I’d like to use my good fortune to help some people who really need it.

Here is how it works – I am going to sell signed copies of the book for $20 (plus shipping) and donate 100% of the proceeds to the Craig Hospital in Adam’s name.

Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado is world renowned as a premier center for specialty rehabilitation and research for people with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. They have been an instrumental part of helping Adam both immediately after his injury and in adapting to his new disabilities.

Craig has been ranked in the top Ten Rehabilitation Hospitals in the nation for 23 consecutive years by U.S. and World Report since the rankings began in 1990. It is a 93-bed, private, not-for-profit, free-standing long term acute care and rehabilitation hospital that provides a comprehensive system of inpatient and outpatient medical care, rehabilitation, neurosurgical rehabilitative care, and long-term follow up services. Half of Craig’s patients come from outside of Colorado, and in 2010 the hospital treated patients from 48 states and several foreign countries.

At any given time, the staff at Craig treat approximately 50-55 inpatients with spinal cord injury, 25-30 with traumatic brain injury, and 50-60 outpatients. Craig provides housing for out-of-state families and outpatients, including the first 30 days free for families of new inpatients. You can find out more about the great work this hospital does at www.craighospital.org.

So you get a signed copy of an amazing book filled with insights and tips from some of the top fitness professionals in the business (including your truly) plus you get to help a great cause – I can’t think of a better way to kick off Thanksgiving week. My goal is to be able to send the Craig Hospital a nice donation in Adam’s name so we can show our support for some people who really need it.

Click on the link below to order your signed copy of Results Fitness for $20 and help me make that happen –

but don’t wait, I only have 75 copies of this book and once they are gone this special fundraising offer ends.

http://tinyurl.com/resultsfitnessbookfundraiser

Please help join me in helping a great cause this Thanksgiving. Buy a signed copy of Results Fitness today and know that you’ve helped make the world a little better for someone else…

http://tinyurl.com/resultsfitnessbookfundraiser

-James Wilson-