Brendan works part time for the Massachusetts rehabilitation commission assisting people with disabilities pursue education and professional careers. As a volunteer and peer mentor for the Boston chapter of the United Spinal Association, he helps mentor and advise fellow peers who have also survived a spinal cord injury.

Brendan’s hobbies and interests include lots of exercise and working out to regain his physical function. In addition, he enjoys being creative and using his construction knowledge to build physical therapy equipment around the house. He has modified his wheelchair and enjoys making adjustments to things around the house to make them more accessible for him to use. He builds physical therapy equipment and assistive technology.

Physical therapy and exercise are extremely important to Brendan, and he continues to be creative in finding new ways to do this. Growing up, he worked several summer and after-school jobs helping with landscape construction, carpentry, and plumbing. He has found that these skills continue to be very valuable. He learned about Swim With Mike through the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders.

‍