As the CEO of an Aviation Marketing Company, George was soaring high - living his dream of flying aircrafts and surrounded by a loving family: his wife Susan and son Brett. But in the blink of an eye, George’s charmed life was changed forever.

In 1987, George landed his aircraft for refueling at a small airport. Unknowingly, however, the attendant filled the plane with the wrong type of fuel. As George took off, suddenly, the engines died. George's head raced with thoughts of how to maneuver the plane to do the least damage to surrounding structures - and most importantly, how to keep himself and his flight partner alive. Seconds later, the plane crashed onto a California hillside, completely destroying the aircraft, and leaving George in grave condition.

Since George had not worn his shoulder harness at the time of the impact, he suffered critical injuries and remained in a coma for two months after the accident. "This oversight changed my whole life," George later explained.

A few months later - after waking up from the coma - George felt like a different person. Spinal injuries bound him to a wheelchair. He needed speech therapy, lifestyle reeducation and an attitude change. But with the help of his wife, Susan, he slowly began coping with his situation.

Unexpectedly, only six years after George's crash, misfortune struck his family again. George's son, Brett, became seriously injured in a car accident which left him in a coma for one month, and eventually confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. To add to the family's tragedy, only one year later, George's wife Susan was diagnosed with bone cancer, and passed away less than three months later.

After a period of mourning the loss of his wife, George went through an arduous process to find a live-in caregiver who could meet his family's needs. He finally hired Robin, a caretaker who has eased the family's living situation. George was lucky that he had the financial resources to hire a caretaker, but said he realizes not everyone is in the same situation - many people haven't planned in advance in case an event such as his force them to rely on alternative streams of income.

"Disability is an event, and events just happen," reasoned George. "The key is to be prepared for them financially and emotionally to make it through."

Plan ahead to help protect yourself in the event of an accident or injury.

To protect the privacy of those impacted by a disability, only first names are used and the photo is not of the actual individual profiled.