Brad climbed the stairs to his apartment as he had hundreds of times, with two grocery bags in hand, ready to end an ordinary day. He was fit and disciplined. He regularly trained for endurance events and as someone with 14 years of sobriety under his belt, Brad was used to providing help to those who were struggling, not needing or asking for it.  

But on that day, one step changed everything. 

As Brad reached the second-to-last stair, he heard the sharp, unmistakable sound of wood cracking. Before he could process what was happening, the staircase collapsed beneath him. He fell straight onto the concrete below, landed on his feet, still holding both bags. 

Looking up through the jagged hole where the stairs once were, Brad knew instantly that he couldn’t stand. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t move toward his car just ten feet away. 

So he sat down, steadied himself, and called 911. 

A Future Rewritten in a Moment 

The hospital was a blur of lights and sounds and people. Voices that ebbed and flowed with beeps and the clang of metal. Tests were run. Hypotheses offered. When the results finally came in, the doctor delivered the news plainly. 

For anyone, a lifetime of pain and a permanent limp would be devastating. But Brad had been independent and active, living on his own and moving through the world without limitation. Now, he faced life in a wheelchair for the foreseeable future. When the stairs gave way, so did his path back to the life he once knew. 

Brad had no choice but to look forward at the untrodden landscape and decide how he would forge a new future one painful step at a time. It seemed bleak. Brad could have accepted the path the doctor was laying out for him-- one of pain and disability. But Brad decided he was going to go a different way. Then something surprising happened. 

Brad took the discipline he had developed in his endurance training and channelled it into his recovery. Learning to use a wheelchair. Then learning to stand. Then learning to walk with casts. Just like adding mileage to his runs, every milestone mattered.

But making progress depended on asking for help. Real help. The kind he’d never had to ask for before. 

When a Community Becomes a Lifeline 

Recovery stripped away Brad’s independence in ways he never expected. His world went from being as broad as his imagination because he could make a decision, get up and go. Now, Brad’s world was limited to what he could reach. 

But his community held him close. Friends rotated visits to make sure he wasn’t isolated and had the things he needed. His employer supported him without hesitation. They literally caught him when he would try to get out of a chair, having momentarily forgotten he couldn't stand on his own. 

And then there was the support he hadn’t anticipated—the legal help that became another anchor at a time when his entire world felt unstable. 

Brad had warned his landlord about the dangerous steps months earlier. He’d sent photos, texts, concerns, but nothing changed. And now everything had changed. 

Brad had once owned a casualty insurance company, so he’d had experience with the insurance industry and premises liability claims. His first instinct had been to represent himself. But then he looked at his feet both in casts and thought, “I can’t go into this arena alone.”  

A trusted friend recommended Chaffin Luhana, a firm known for its compassion, integrity, and human-first approach. Brad wasn’t sure what to expect but the moment he called, he felt something shift. 

Chaffin Luhana didn’t treat him like a case file or a settlement. They treated him like a human being who had been through something life-altering.  

Brad’s attorney came to meet him face-to-face. He listened. He asked thoughtful questions. He explained every possible path the case could take in clear, compassionate language. 

“They explained each step. I always knew what was happening. That communication gave me back control.” 

For a man who had lost nearly all physical control overnight, this mattered more than he expected. Brad often says he’s only ever achieved anything meaningful when surrounded by the right people. 

Throughout the claims process, Chaffin Luhana became a part of that circle by offering steady, respectful support, and handling his case with a level of integrity and excellence that mirrored the way Brad approached his own recovery. 

The Determination to Rise 

Brad was disciplined and determined. The doctors said he wouldn’t run again? He set a goal of completing a 5k.   But the road to healing was bumpy and full of unexpected challenges. He was forced to rethink everything from the surfaces he walked on to the exercises he did and the food he put into his body. And even if he did everything perfectly, pain would arrive unexpectedly like a bolt of lightning travelling through his body. 

As someone maintaining sobriety, using pain killers wasn’t an option. Brad had to steel himself mentally, relying on other coping strategies to get through it.

But the support Brad received from Chaffin Luhana allowed him to focus on regaining his physical health and maintaining his mental strength. Many months into his recovery, he completed a 5K on uneven, wooded terrain. In May 2025, he finished the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, one of his favorite races.  

Brad’s legal case was handled with precision and care and reached a resolution that allowed Brad to take a breath—to truly look forward for the first time since the fall. It gave him space to continue building strength, to work on long-term mobility, and to re-establish the routines that grounded him. 

“After the settlement, I could finally put the pieces of my life back together. Without their help… I don’t know where I’d be.” 

Through it all, what stayed with Brad most wasn’t just the outcome, it was the way he was treated. Every update. Every check-in. Every moment he felt heard. That, to him, was the difference. 

A New Kind of Strength 

Today, Brad still manages pain. He still moves carefully and thinks about where he places his feet. But he also carries a deeper gratitude and a renewed perspective shaped by the people who showed up when his life collapsed beneath him. 

His story isn’t about a fall. It’s about the rise that followed and the people who helped him stand.