“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – A quote by Helen Keller that Justin repeated to everyone throughout his life. It was his favorite quote to be sure. And he lived by it. Justin was inspiration to all who knew him. Starting at a very early age, he always pushed the limits. He had this keen sense of what was truly important in life. He made friends easily with his quick-witted humor and charisma that drew people to him, and he didn’t hesitate to put himself out there to stand up for what he believed. He was passionate about many things: travel, adventure, science, sustainability, technology, helping others, new experiences, and most importantly, relationships. Without question, he very much lived life the way that he saw fit…not how others thought he should. Justin was one of a kind from the start. A high school friend wrote, “Justin was an inspiration to me, and he was a dear friend to me during a rough time in my life…he was kind and always made me laugh… To this day, I always pick up any trash I see because he would do that in the halls at school. He wanted to leave the world better than he found it.” After high school, Justin wanted to see the world. He spent three years backpacking across the globe. He was adventurous at his core. He saw as much as he could, made numerous friends along the way, slept under the stars, and lived with families in foreign lands that welcomed his kind spirit into their homes. He earned his skydiving license, his private pilot’s license, his scuba diving license in the Red Sea, and he was working on his commercial pilot’s license at the age of 22 when he suffered a severe spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down and ventilator dependent. After his spinal cord injury, most would have given up. But Justin chose to wake up every day and face the types of challenges that those of us with working bodies will never be able to comprehend, no matter how we try. Despite all of the unbelievable and overwhelming obstacles, within months of his injury, he was peer mentoring other SCI survivors and starting school in an aerospace engineering program. He went on to give speeches and testimony to state congress and research organizations, served on public policy making and distribution committees, served as a counselor and volunteer for disability programs, and advocated for independent living and the rights of people with disabilities of all kinds. He went skydiving again and even took others hang gliding with him. He showed all of us that there really are no limits. While Justin suffered numerous complications after his injury, he had a stubborn will to never give up. For every hospital visit and setback that he encountered, he fought harder. “It’s not about feeling sorry for yourself”, Justin said in a recent article. “It’s about moving forward and making each day count.”
The complications from his injury finally became too much for Justin’s body to handle, and he passed away from a septic infection on August 13, 2014. His mother and sister were by his side. Two months before he passed, he told a local paper, “If I had one wish, it wouldn’t be for me. It would be for others to not take life for granted and make the most of every moment.” He was a hero that inspired many, and he will be greatly missed by all. There is no doubt that Justin succeeded in leaving this world better than he found it. Justin is survived by his mother, Shari Gorman Paglio and her husband, Peter, of Dawsonville, GA, his sister, Shannon (33), and her husband, Peter Shoemaker, of Decatur, GA, and his father , Mike Terry-Cochran, and his wife, Mitzi, of Loudon, TN. In lieu of a funeral, the family is holding a Celebration of Justin’s Life on Saturday, October 18, from 5-9pm at the Relix Variety Theatre in Knoxville, TN. It is open to everyone, and the family requests that people wear bright colors instead of black, if possible. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Justin Cochran Spinal Cord Injury Foundation, PO Box 52244, Knoxville, TN 37950.
