Gabe Hurley’s life was forever changed on June 18, 2009, when a teenage driver lost control and crashed into Hurley’s car. The impact shattered Hurley’s facial bones and completely took away his sight and his sense of smell. He also has impaired taste and has had a dozen surgeries to reconstruct his face. Despite his devastating injuries, this brave man thinks life is beautiful and has found a new purpose in life as a motivational speaker.
Good News Network writes that the guitarist used music as an outlet to help during his recovery process. This eventually led to him sharing his story about his accident with youth groups.
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“Too often we as people tend to focus on what we don’t have as opposed to what we do have,” he says in the video above. “I want people to understand that life is a gift and time is something you can never get back, so if you have an opportunity or a door opens, walk through it.”
Now 29, Hurley has given more than 60 talks throughout New Jersey to juvenile delinquents, and middle and high school students to warn them about the dangers of reckless driving and to urge them to drive safely.
“Right now my mission is to prevent tragedies such as mine from happening to other people and their families,” the Rutgers alum told Rutgers Today. “That’s my immediate goal. I don’t consider myself a visionary. But considering that in four and a half years so much has happened, who knows where this is going to go?”