Paul Orlando

Transcript

I was in the back of an ambulance being rushed to the hospital I remember laying on the stretcher with a neck brace on straps across my entire body asking myself what just happened just before that's when it hit me and it wasn't as much the vehicle but the moment right before that struck me the most sent me flying back further than any vehicle could have ever done the moment before getting hit by a car changed my entire perspective on life it's the reason I'm standing here today but what if that moment never happened to me you see one of the greatest ironies in life is

that most people go through it waiting waiting to say I love you waiting to quit their job or waiting for that moment to start living but they never do five years ago I was lucky to be hit with the moment that finally woke me up but you don't need to get hit to wake up to this all happened to me back when I was a student at the Richard Ivey Business School I was competing in a business case competition and I was just about to go and present in front of a panel of judges I'll never forget this so my team and I were standing

right in front of our classroom doors eagerly waiting to go and present when we realized we left our presentation at home home was right across the street no more than 200 metres from where I was standing so naturally I thought I could just bolt it out of the building run across the street grab the presentation head on back I can make it back in time so it's exactly what I did I bolted out of the building ran across the street and made it home I grabbed the presentation went to head back and that's what had happened I didn't make it back I looked to my

left started crossing the street and when I looked to my right I was blinded blinded by two headlights beaming at me like a Blazing Sun my fro was like a deer in the headlights I remember feeling paralyzed like my feet were stuck in quicksand I couldn't move now for those you who have had a near-death experience you know that in that moment you're not scared of dying no everything slows down you have time to think and as those headlights came closer and I realized this actually might be it all I could think about were three people I thought of my mother I thought of all

the things I still wanted to say to her things like mom I know I don't tell you this enough I appreciate everything you do for me and I feel like the luckiest son in the world to have someone like you in my life I thought of my father and I don't tell him I love him enough because it's hard for me to open up to him I wish I said things like dad I know we don't always see eye to eye but I want you to know you turned me into the man I am today thank you I love you and then I thought of

my younger sister my only sister and how I don't tell her enough how much I respect her I wish I said things like Laura you don't know how much I admire you in all the qualities you have and even as a younger sister you've taught me so much and despite all that I hope you still know that I'm the favorite child in the family and as I was standing in the middle of the road about to get hit I asked myself would I be happy if this were it and that's when it hit me the car struck my right leg and I felt the most

pain I've felt in my entire life but it wasn't physical pain no it was something I didn't even know was possible to feel it felt like I failed my family I didn't say the things I wanted to say to them I felt like I failed myself I didn't do what I wanted to do with my life I felt like I missed the mark on what mattered most I couldn't appreciate everything and everyone that was right in front of me the car struck my right leg sent me flying 30 feet and when the ambulance came they found me with my legs and arms in opposite directions

like I was mr. spaghetti man or a ballerina at the hospital the doctor said I broke my femur was severely concussed and not to move or talk but the x-rays came back miraculously I didn't end up breaking a single bone in my body small price to pay for such a big wake-up call you see one of the greatest ironies in life is that most people go through it waiting waiting to say I love you waiting to quit their job or waiting for that moment to start living but they never do since getting hit by a car my entire perspective on life has changed and now

I'm grateful for even the smallest moments because I realize how precious life is and how quickly can be taken from you but what I truly learned from this whole experience is that I didn't need to wait to start living a life of gratitude all along I could have told my family how much I loved them and how much I appreciated them all along I could have quit my job pursued my passions started my own business all along I could have appreciated everything and everyone around me all along what I realized is you need to get hit by a moment to finally wake up this is

your moment so let me ask you what are you waiting for

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.