Mark Jones

By Joyce Moed, Reporter

BREA, Calif.–Mark Jones says that in many ways his life is better now than it was before the bicycle accident and spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the middle of his chest down almost two years ago.

“Believe it or not, I’m actually happier and have more joy today than before my accident,” he says. “I attribute that to God’s grace, and love in my life, as well as a lot of hard work.”
Before his accident, Jones was the vice president for the Evangelical Christian Credit Union. In addition, he volunteers for many nonprofit organizations, and enjoyed biking, racquetball and tennis. After his accident, he returned to the Evangelical Christian CU, but not to his same management position he held for more than 16 years.

“I’m not able to work as much as before,” Jones says, noting that he now works about 20 hours per week instead of the 40-50 hours per week he worked previously.

“It takes me much longer to do even the basic things of life–like getting dressed–and my body needs more rest. From a professional standpoint, I had to step back from all of the management responsibilities I had at ECCU,” he says.

Jones now works for ECCU as an internal consultant, assisting in areas where he developed expertise throughout the years.

Jones says that ECCU was really there for him when he needed support.

“ECCU has been very supportive throughout my journey since my accident,” he says. “My wife and I received a lot of emotional support, as I was in several hospitals. Our CEO and executive team would come to see me frequently and assure me they would be waiting for me when I was able to return.”

Jones’ rehabilitation process included two different hospitals during a period of three months, followed by six months of outpatient therapy and rehabilitation.

Jones recalls one day when a co-worker brought his laptop to him in the hospital.

“Not so I could do work,” he says, “but so that I would have something that I could use to do all the online research I needed to do about my new condition and challenges I was facing.”

When Jones returned to work, he found that credit union had made many changes to the building so that it would be easier for him, “such as automatic door openers and adjustable height white boards to an already ADA compliant building,” he says. “In addition, they also put in some new exercise equipment and recliner so I can work out and rest while I’m at work. Our work areas are very accessible, but there are always things that no one ever thinks about until you are in a wheelchair.”

One thing Jones says he definitely learned from his experience is the important of having disability insurance.

“Studies show that you are more likely to need disability insurance than life insurance,” he says. “You may never know what may happen and if you lose your ability to work–or have a significant reduction in what you can do–disability insurance will help fill in the gaps.”

But perhaps nothing was more reassuring to Jones after his accident than when he learned his job would be waiting for him.

“It calmed many fears I had as I was struggling to recover,” he says. “It allowed me to be able to focus on my recovery rather than worry about what I would do for a job if and when I would be able to work.”

Since returning, Jones has felt mixed emotions about his new role at the credit union.
“It has been hard in many ways because I’m not in the same management role as before, which caused me to be in the middle of so many things he says. So it is easy to feel out of touch, or not as productive,” he says. “But I am learning to accept what I can do and contribute in the best way I can.”

After retuning to work, Assurant Employee Benefits, the company from which he received disability insurance benefits through his employer, presented him with the Perseverance Award, for his dedication and hard work.