Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. — Psalm 30:5Morning has broken for Quaid McIver.And oh, what a happy time it’s been.The 23-year-old Akron man is up and walking. Not on his own two feet exactly, but walking nonetheless.Quaid — a handsome, hardworking and disciplined young man with a bright future ahead of him, working two jobs and contemplating a career in professional modeling — was severely injured in a gruesome workplace accident.On July 3, 2010, he was on his job as a detail specialist at an automobile dealership when the unoccupied SUV he was working on inexplicably accelerated, smashing him against a wall.Quaid was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent a lengthy surgery that resulted in him losing both legs just above the knee, a bilateral amputation.He had been relentless in rebuilding his life up to that point, drastically changing his eating habits (he became a vegan) and exercising. He had shed more than 100 pounds from his 280-pound frame since he graduated in 2007 from Buchtel High School. He was also working part time at Dillard’s and had begun modeling, promoting and demonstrating auto show products. As dark and foreboding as things were after the accident, Quaid was fortunate to have his mother, Brenda McIver, help keep him positive and see himself whole again.No stranger to hard times or hard work, Brenda McIver grew up in foster care under the tutelage of a tough woman whose mantra was, “I can show you better than I can tell you!” Emboldened by that, McIver refused to allow her son or herself to be buried by the accident. Because of Quaid’s can-do attitude, he began attracting folks like filings to a magnet, folks who wanted to help him put his life back together.Integral to that process was building a 450-square-foot, handicapped-accessible addition onto the family home. That included a bedroom and bathroom and an enlarged kitchen/dinette area with wheelchair ramp.Dedicated volunteers under the watchful eye of contractor Bob Yoder did that and some extras: new siding, windows, whole-house roofing and gutters and more. Most of the supplies and furnishings also were donated.Good newsBut the big news is that Quaid has new legs.The state-of-the-art titanium legs came in December from Akron’s Yanke Bionics.Designed by Otto Bock, a German company, the prostheses are controlled with a microprocessor that’s charged every day to ensure 48 hours of walking.As great as it was to get the legs, Quaid acknowledges, the real breakthrough came when he traveled to Kansas City for three days in June for the Amputee Coalition of America conference. He met scores of people who had lost their legs in various situations: car accidents, birth defects, bacterial meningitis, war.In the blink of an eye even more possibilities opened up for him.A month later he flew to Oklahoma City for a two-week boot camp for bilateral amputees, where he not only was eyewitness to a presentation by Hanger Orthotics and Prosthesis, but he became an active participant.It was that hand-me-down philosophy from his mother staring him in the face: “I can show you better than I can tell you.”Quaid’s eyes brighten when he talks about that trip and meeting Kevin Carroll, Hanger’s vice president of prostheses and scientist who helped propel him and others in new directions.“There were bilateral amputees there who have been taught to drive fast cars, swim, ski and surf,” Quaid said enthusiastically.Carroll and Dan Strzempka, a designer of prosthetic limbs at Hanger, were combined into the character of Dr. Cameron McCarthy in the new movie Dolphin Tale. Morgan Freeman plays McCarthy, who is charged with developing a soft and flexible sleeve that allows a prosthetic fin to be attached to the dolphin’s stump.So, the movie means so much more to Quaid and his fellow bilateral amputee friends.Friends like Heath Calhoun, who was instrumental in getting him to attend the conference. The pair had met online and had spoken by phone.“He was a young U.S. Army sergeant who was injured (Nov. 7, 2003) in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee, resulting in his legs being amputated above the knee,” Quaid said.Calhoun, who represents Hanger, is now a member of the U.S. Alpine Ski team.“I also met Cameron Clapp who was hit by a train when he was 15. Not only did he lose both legs, but also an arm,” Quaid said.His list of newfound friends and mentors are as varied in age and background as to what rendered them physically and, for a time, emotionally challenged.They included a brother and sister from Peru. “They were born with no limbs,” Quaid said, his voice quivering.“Then there’s this 52-year-old man from Chagrin Falls who lost both legs to swine flu,” he included on his list of folks who, like him, are now on similar journeys to joy. “Life is funny,” Brenda McIver said. “It can take so many twists and turns, those like Quaid’s that you just don’t see coming.”Fresh on this mother and son’s minds was the unexpected Aug. 8 death of 26-year-old Amanda Wien, an extraordinary person and a supportive friend of Quaid’s.“She attended a fundraiser dinner for me, purchased some raffle tickets, won the TV, which she gave to me,” he said, adding, “That’s just the kind of person she was.“We’re now in the position of trying to comfort her family and help them heal,” he continued.Amanda’s father, Chuck Wien, president of Marshall Carpet One Flooring, donated the flooring for the addition at Quaid’s house.What’s aheadWhile Quaid continues his physical therapy and deciding when he’ll return to school (he wants to study business management at the University of Akron), he’s finding other ways to be valuable to the community.That includes steering friends to a healthful-eating lifestyle. He’s setting up his own website to give a more detailed plan of attack, complete with vegan recipes.Always a natty dresser, Quaid has gathered up several new pairs of shoes and boots, still in their boxes, with the intent of finding them a new home.“I want to give them to a man or men who are trying to get somewhere in life,” he said. And he’s looking for me to help with that. If you think you meet his criteria, contact me. The shoes are size 13, the size Quaid wore before the accident. He no longer has a need for them since his new shoe size is 9›. Quaid’s height also has changed since the accident. He’s gone from being 6 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 8› inches. But because of all he’s doing to reach a higher ground and help others do the same, Quaid McIver is far more towering than he could have ever imagined.His heart is much bigger, too.Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or emailed at jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.