Inspiring Person: Dana Liesegang

The Inspiring Story of a Woman Blessed with Forgiveness

In October 1990, a “strong, happy-go-lucky’ 19 year old woman named Dana Liesegang enlisted in the U.S. Navy. The 5’3” young woman who could bench 155 lbs. believed she could take care of herself. On the night of October 25, 1990, Dana met an 18-year-old young man who was a fellow Naval officer from a neighboring ship. The young man ended up violently attacking, raping and throwing Dana over a 75ft cliff where she was left to die. She barely survived. She awoke in the hospital from an 18-hour coma to discover she was paralyzed from the neck down and incurred several internal injuries, including a severe head injury. After her injury, a now retired Veteran, Dana found her true calling in life, to help and teach others. On her journey through intention and forgiveness, she has helped others “regain their personal power within and give them a voice, to help them from being paralyzed emotionally and/or physically by their own silence, fear and self blame.” Once stable enough to speak with the navy advisor, Dana was given two choices – to remain silent, and be taken care of the rest of her life, or take the incident to court, where she would be guaranteed to lose and end up with nothing. So for years, Dana wasn’t allowed to talk about the incident she referred to as an ‘accident’. Today however, she is choosing to no longer remain silent and allow the military to sweep her injury under the rug. Today, she refers to her injury as a ‘purposement’; a life changing incident. Dana is opening up and sharing her story and delivering inspirational speeches to several organizations, including: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Paralyzed Veterans of America and Disabled Veterans of America. Dana said, “This is the best thing to have ever happened in my life. For now I am truly blessed with the gift of forgiveness. The hardest thing to do was forgive myself for being in the wrong place and making poor decisions.” Dana decided to go on a cruise with Hay House. While on this journey she met a man, Dr. Wayne Dyer. Dr. Dyer was so touched by Dana’s story he gave her his purple beret. She told him she would give it back to him once she gets out of her chair. After being in a wheelchair for 22 years, Dana was able to keep her promise to Dr. Dyer and walked to give him back his beret. Of course, He still let her keep it. Dana is still working to better herself and regain her strength. She has traveled the world, networking with doctors who are experts in rehabilitation, and highly experimental, stem-cell therapies. Her next visit is with Dr. Wise Young in New Jersey, the acclaimed physician of actor Christopher Reeves. They will discuss Dana’s participation in a breakthrough surgery, which only five patients have ever undergone. When we read Dana’s story, we were filled with gratitude and knew wehad to share it. Rarely do you come across someone with such courage, strength, love and the ability to forgive so boldly and light a path for others. She truly inspired us! To learn more about Dana’s heroine story, visit http://www.danaliesegangbook.com. Source: Dana Liesegang