Awesome by Accident: How adapting to a "tragic accident" led me to create my extraordinary life

Awesome by Accident is about a precocious 17 year old boy, Gene R. Rodgers, whose future is all mapped out for him. He has grown to appreciate the values of self-reliance, stoicism, determination, and tenaciousness as taught to him by his parents. Rodgers’s plans for the future reflect all of those values as he declares his decision to homestead in Alaska. His decision is emblematic of earlier plans to row solo across Lake Erie. Undeterred by lack of experience, he proceeds with confidence to make his dreams and plans a reality.


Paralyzed in a hiking accident, he must rethink his future. Rodgers’ spirit is tested to its core as he struggles to make sense of his new life. He languishes in uncertainty while the gravity of his situation slowly becomes clear to him. Unable to accept his probable future he attempts suicide only to have his plans thwarted by a quick thinking no nonsense doctor. Rodgers decides to work relentlessly to successfully become rehabilitated.


Now thrown into a world not of his making, Rodgers must find a way to once again embrace his family’s value of self-reliance. To become self-reliant, he must leave the security of home, the support system that protects him. Can he survive on his own? Is that even possible? He struggles to identify an acceptable career path. He relies on a post-secondary education to give him an edge in employment somewhere in the science field. While away at school, he decides not to let school get in the way of his education. Dorm life suits him well and he makes friends that change his life. One of Rodgers’ friends, Bruce, enlightens him to the possibilities the world has to offer. He meets Jane who is instrumental to his emotional healing and well-being. Rodgers contemplates a life with Jane permanently a part of it. Making a life long emotional commitment will mean sacrificing a more solitary life he still seeks. Bruce, Rodgers and other school friends travel throughout North America enjoying many adventures along the way. These experiences mold Rodgers into an undefeatable force as he embraces his mantra, fortune favors the brave.


Rodgers becomes confident he can live independently, becoming self-reliant, as his family would expect. Though given a poor hand, he has played it well. Armed with a strong foundation of academics and endowed with social capital to support a life worth living, Rodgers builds an impressive resume. He earns a B.S. Ed to teach science in secondary education. He also earns an MBA and a Switzer Fellowship. His experiences become more varied and demanding as he worked in three states, traveled in 44 countries on six continents. He has enjoyed adventure sports including snow skiing, ski diving, paragliding, sailing on tall-ships, scuba diving, and trekking to name a few. He becomes an entrepreneur and subsequently a self-made millionaire. The more he learned and experienced, the more humble he became. Wherever he traveled, it was the people, not the place, that fulfilled him. Rodgers learned how to bounce back, to recover, to accomplish more than most people, able bodied or not. In Awesome by Accident, Rodgers repeatedly affirms that fortune does indeed favor the brave.