Man in Wheelchair Crowd Surfs at Philadelphia Concert

A crowd picked up Joe Burkhardt, who uses a wheelchair, so he could see his favorite band.

“It was an experience, it was — It was great, I was just in the moment,” he stated. “Being crowd surfed, most people don’t do that in a normal situation, let alone in a wheelchair.”

Burkhardt went to see Coheed and Cambria play but says he couldn’t see over the crowd very well. Some friends lifted him up when his favorite song came on and strangers quickly turned it into a whole different experience.

“I was just staring at people’s backs and trying to lean one way or the other and try to get a glimpse of the stage,” he said. “They basically grabbed the front of my wheelchair and pulled me forward. Now I’m looking up at the sky.”

Burkhardt became paralyzed from the neck down in 2010, after diving into the water at the Jersey Shore, hitting a sand bar, and breaking his neck. He has been working to gain back his mobility since the incident. Like many, he struggles to afford the out-of-pocket therapies that could get him back to working condition.

“It’s definitely a little bit of a battle,’ he stated. “But at the same time, you’ve got to live your best life. You have to enjoy this.”