The message on Jason Hall's answering machine tells the story.
"If you are receiving this message, I must be somewhere within the magical confines of the East Lake Care Center."That's exactly how Hall beholds life - magical - which is nothing short of miraculous in the face of not one, but two tragedies in his 27 years.
A Lake Powell diving accident 12 years ago broke the 15-year-old's neck. No one thought he would live when a helicopter had to transport him from a beach to a hospital in Colorado.
Hall spent three weeks at the hospital and then more than two months at the University of Utah Medical Center before he was released to go home to Boise.
He eventually adjusted to life as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down and with little use of his arms and hands. He mastered the use of a motorized wheelchair, graduated from high school, went to Brigham Young University, majored in English, married and became the university's student body president in 1992 - the first quadriplegic to do so.
After graduating, he fashioned a career as a financial planner with the MONY Group and created his own company, the Champion Institute, through which he, with the help of his wife, Kolette, has traveled the world as a motivational speaker, using his ability to conquer a debilitating injury to inspire others.
His life progressed as well as anybody could expect. Until a year ago.
A few days before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 21, as Hall drove from his home in Lehi to an appointment in Provo, the front tire on his wheelchair-converted van blew out.
He remembers regaining consciousness and seeing the clouds in the sky over I-15.
"My first thought was that I had broken my neck, again," Hall said. "I thought, not this again."
An ambulance rushed Hall to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he had eight hours of surgery to begin to repair what was crushed in the accident: both legs, his right arm and right shoulder.
The real problem turned out to be just keeping Hall breathing. As a paraplegic, he breathes with only one set of muscles, not two, as able-bodied people do.
Doctors gave him a 5 to 7 percent chance of survival.
"The doctors told my family if they had anything to say to me, they'd better do it," he said matter-of-factly.
Respiratory therapists debated putting Hall on a respirator. He declined, knowing that if he did not try to breathe on his own he would die.
"I'll never forget the sound he made when he tried to breathe," Kolette Hall said. "That was the worst time for me."
Hall remembers only bits and pieces of the first week after the accident, and he refused to dwell on the pain and medication-induced grogginess. The way he relates one episode shows his remarkably positive attitude despite the seriousness of the situation.
He said one day a nurse used a piece of equipment that he thought looked like a telescope to drain fluid from his lungs.
"I remember thinking, man, that NASA has got a fantastic product," Hall laughed. He said he could not understand why the nurse did not acknowledge what he was saying.
Hall's life was in danger for several days as fluid saturated his lungs.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Hall's LDS Church stake, the Lehi North Stake, and those in his and Kolette's parents' LDS wards fasted and prayed for him.
"On one day, I lost almost 100 percent of the fluid," Hall said. "Although things were very serious for months to come, the substantial crisis was averted in almost one day."
After that, Hall faced months of recuperation in the East Lake Care Center.
He speaks composedly of the struggles. He said he has not had a full day of frustration. There were only a few times when he and Ko-lette allowed themselves moments of frustration.
In fact, Hall would think of himself as more of a victim if he did allow the frustration to get him down.
"It was never, `There are lots of rotten people in the world. Why me?' No good ever comes from that question," he said. "Instead, it was `How come?' "
Jason and Kolette Hall talked much about the opportunities the accident has brought them. During their 6 1/2 years of marriage, they together developed an independence.
"We didn't really want any help," Kolette Hall said.
But she remembers thinking when she arrived at the hospital that the experience would be too much for her to handle, so she called a member of her LDS ward. Within 45 minutes, she said, there were a dozen people in the waiting room with her.
Jason Hall said to be on the receiving end of so much service helped them learn to accept help.
"There's always talk in church about serving others, but I think there's blessings in being served," he said.
Folks in their neighborhood would take care of the house while Kolette taught at the Meridian School in Provo.
"For someone to bring over food for one week is wonderful, but they didn't stop, they brought over seven or eight months of meals," Jason Hall said. "We found out later that one-fourth of the time it was one person.
"Things like this don't happen to one person alone."
Jason Hall said coping with his second accident is different because now he is married. Being married is good because his wife supports him, but he said it's also bad because he worries about her. Sitting close together in a room at the care center, the couple said they have had to adjust their relationship.
"It's amazing to have to schedule time in your day to visit your husband. We've had to find a way to be close living 35 miles away and yet you do," Kolette Hall said.
"It's hard for me to go to sleep if she doesn't call," he said. "I miss going into the next room and kissing my wife."
He has learned there are many simple things he appreciates, such as sitting around the house.
"I've had her take pictures of the house so I don't forget what it looks like," he said.
The farthest Hall has traveled since the second accident is Cougar Stadium, where he has driven himself to watch as much of BYU football games as he can. He plans to spend Thanksgiving, however, at home in Lehi.
Hall looks the same as he did before the accident sitting in his wheelchair, but he and Kolette pointed out all the places on his legs in the wrong spot.
"This isn't his kneecap," Kolette said, pointing at what looked like his. "It's down there," she said, pointing to her husband's calf.
Jason Hall appreciates the pause this accident has created.
"We don't often get time to sit and breathe for a second. It's been wonderful the solitude this has created," he said.
And despite his reliance on a wheelchair, he probably wouldn't trade places with others and their own problems.
"I would rather deal with this 100 times than deal with a divorce," he said.
Jason and Kolette cannot wait to be together in the same house again.
"Not just sitting by your husband's bed, but to exist in the same space," Kolette Hall said.
That time is finally nearing. After more than a year concentrating on rehabilitation, Hall will be released from the care center in the middle of December, just days before Christmas. He and Kolette plan to take an extended vacation of six to eight months at his parents' home in Connecticut where he can further recuperate - and reflect.
"I'd say we were both surprised, not mad, surprised, that it happened again," Jason Hall said. "I've learned we are not limited to just one accident per life."
"It's almost like a little challenge. I think this is not going to get me," Kolette Hall said. "But we're only 27; I worry what will happen next."
Jason Hall also takes a positive attitude, which makes it obvious why he is a motivational speaker.
"But hopefully," he adds, "I can find a better way to get material than this."