Resilience and Commitment: Rolling with Speaker, Actor, and Athlete, Gabriel Cordell

Warning: Adult Content, please do not play with children present.

The night before our No Barriers Summit began, our hosts Dave and Erik met with Gabriel Cordell at Squaw Resort at Lake Tahoe to record. Gabriel was scheduled to speak at the No Barriers Summit opening ceremony the next evening but came in early to meet with our podcast crew.

Throughout the hour, Gabriel detailed how he dealt with his car accident at age 22 that left him paralyzed from his mid-chest down. After four months of recovery and physical rehabilitation, Gabriel continued to pursue his dream of being an actor, now as a paraplegic. He established his acting career on stage and screen, with credits including CSI, Dexter, and Numb3rs as well as national ads for IBM, Maxwell House and Pizza Hut.

At the age of 42, Cordell focused on a different kind of role. He became the first person to roll across the United States in a standard, manual wheelchair — a 3,100-mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the final destination being his hometown of West Hempstead, New York. The inspiring trek is the subject of an award-winning documentary film called, Roll With Me: A Journey Across America. In 2014, Gabriel traveled to Israel and mounted a Roll for Peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, completing that 100km journey from Haifa to Tel Aviv in his wheelchair.

In 2015, he teamed with the North Shore Animal League America and Bianca’s Furry Friends to raise money and awareness, by rolling 123 miles across Long Island, New York. As a motivational speaker, Gabriel Cordell finally gets to share his inspiring story of turning tragedy into triumph.

Gabriel dives deep into the dark places his injury and subsequent anger and frustration led him. His truthfulness is raw and real and Gabriel goes on to talk about what inspired him to stop doing drugs, to reassess his life, and to take on the athletic challenges he pursues. Listen to hear Gabriel’s story along with his new No Barriers Pledge.

Follow Gabriel on Facebook and Twitter at @rollwithmeusa and his website.
Watch his film: Roll With Me on Netflix and for more info on his documentary visit: Roll With Me: The Movie