Apr 30, 2019
The Heart of a Lion - David Francisco
David Francisco is an accomplished singer, songwriter,
producer, recording engineer and spinal cord injury survivor.
While attending the prestigious Blackbird Academy furthering
his music career, on April 27, 2016, and his life was forever
changed when he was struck by a car. This accident resulted
in significant injuries most notably a spinal cord injury.
David’s response was to rebuild and then grow. Since
that time, David finished his schooling at the Blackbird Academy,
tried out and had a very successful season on American Idol,
organized a charity ride and appeared on ELLEN to tell his story
and receive funds for his charity, amongst so much more.
In this episode we discuss,
-
David’s life prior to his accident and his accident story.
-
Redemption and building your redemption story.
-
ELLEN, American Idol, shows, and other very public performances.
-
Purpose in Suffering and the blessings of a supportive community.
-
Proving you can do more than you realize.
-
David talks about his single Lionheart releasing on the third anniversary of his accident. This is an anthem to those that have persevered through really difficult experiences.
-
David Francisco talks about his upcoming book (exclusive!).
More About David Francisco
David Francisco is an accomplished singer/songwriter,
musician, producer, recording engineer and spinal cord injury
survivor.
He opened and operated a small recording studio in Knoxville
for a couple of years before deciding to enhance his producing and
engineering skills by attending the world renowned Blackbird Academyin
Nashville Tennessee. Three weeks after moving to Nashville, tragedy
struck. While riding his bicycle home from school at lunch to feed
his dog, David was
t-boned by a distracted driverwho ran a red light at a busy
intersection. His body slammed into the windshield, launched 10
feet into the air and crashed into the pavement. His back was
snapped, his spinal cord severely damaged and his left forearm torn
open. It was April 27, 2016, and his life was forever
changed. The following year consisted of intense, full-time
physical therapy and rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center in
Atlanta, where David focused all of his efforts on regaining any
possible mobility. He returned to Nashville in January 2017, and
graduated from the Blackbird Academy in June 2017. His journey is
documented in the short film "Back To
Blackbird”. Later in 2017 he auditioned for American
Idoland went all the way to Hollywood week. His audition was
televised and viewed more than 42 million times around the
world.
He met, fell in love and married the beautiful Kristi Wilhelm,
who started dating him while he was still in a
wheelchair. Their love blossomed and powered his amazing
recovery to where he and Kristi organized a charity bicycle ride
from San Francisco to Los Angeles to celebrate all that he had
recovered. This led to an appearance on the
ELLEN showwhere ELLEN Degeneres gave them a $10,000
contribution to support the Ride!
David is signed with Extreme Music, a division of
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and currently lives in Los Angeles. He
has performed on stage with Martina McBride, Steven Curtis
Chapmanand opened for 3 sold out shows for THE VOICE winner,
Chris Blue. He has shared his story at the Grammy's annual
MusiCares foundation gala and in person with Katy Perry and Kacey
Musgraves.
Back to Blackbird Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXeF1zv7zaU
This episode is brought to you by Living Adaptive with Scott
Davidson.
Find Living Adaptive at,
www.livingadaptive.comfor more
information.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/living_adaptive/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingadaptive/