The Choice “Live to Live or Live to Die” – The Jed Nield Story

Jed Nield was a big man who stood at 6’3” and weighed well over 200 pounds of solid muscle. He was born and raised on a dairy farm in Afton, Wyoming. At a young age he was taught how to work until the work was done and done right. Often this meant working 14-16 hours a day in the hot sun or cold winter snow and ice. He is a modern cowboy who earned my respect. He competed in several rodeos in the team roping competition, married to his high school sweetheart for 49 years, a father of four children, and manager of a 13,000-acre ranch in Idaho. 

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So why do I believe that Jed is such an impressive man? After all he is not the only person with these attributes, and in fact there are probably hundreds of cowboys in this country who fit this description, but, in my opinion, he stands out from them all.
 
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Here is the Jed Nield story as told to me several years ago and more recently additional information was shared by his wife Marie. 

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On January 29, 2007, he was working alone in a remote area of a phosphate mine, in Idaho, doing some drilling and blasting. On this particular day Jed suffered an industrial accident that changed his life and his family’s life forever. 

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As he was drilling, he encountered a problem with the drill and decided he could fix it without turning it off. Unfortunately, he got too close, and his clothes got caught in the drill, which pulled him into it and spun him around at 114 RPMs. Fortunately for Jed, his clothing ripped and he was thrown free.

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As he was lying there, he tried to get up and it was then that he discovered that one of his arms was missing and a leg was severely damaged, (later it had to be amputated). 
He had the presence of mind to use his cell phone and call for help (which miraculously worked in this remote area where usually there is no cell service). When he got to the hospital the doctors attributed his life being saved to his call and the cold weather which caused the bleeding to slow down.

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An accident of this magnitude could have easily slowed Jed down and provided him with an excuse to feel sorry for himself and to live his life in survival mode. But that wasn’t part of Jed’s nature. When he recovered, he accepted the challenges that he now faced and used them as motivation to get on with his life. 

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He adapted to his new life and the changes that would be a necessary part of his future. He had a choice to make regarding his future and quality of life. He had to reassess his attitude towards how he wanted to live his life. This led him to adopt a personal philosophy that remained with him until he passed away. 

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That philosophy was simple yet profound. He lived the remainder of his life living with his choice that he could “live to live or live to die!” It was as simple as that. He knew that he determined his own destiny of happiness and fulfillment or sadness and feeling sorry for himself.

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Jed loved his horse, and he trained it from a colt (before the accident) and together they made up a calf roping team. When Jed rode his horse, they were always in sync, and the horse knew what to expect from Jed and what it needed to do to help him succeed and Jed knew what his horse was going to do.

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His wife Marie told me that Jed had to have a picture of his horse in his hospital room, and she and the kids teased him of caring “more for the horse than the family”.

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Some other qualities I learned about Jed was that he was able to control his frustrations, didn’t complain, didn’t make excuses, and when he set his mind to do something he put forth the effort needed to eventually accomplish it. Jed was honest and had the ability to talk with anyone.

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Most of time his temperament was mellow and patient and after accident and he strengthened his relationship with his kids.

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From this accident Jed developed a personal philosophy for life, a philosophy that could benefit us all. Jed choose to live his post-accident life “living to live, not living to die.”  He did not let the loss of an arm and leg, countless surgeries, and pain stop him or slow him down.

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Jed is no longer with us, but he left us with a legacy of positivity and self-assurance that we don’t have to let our challenges stop us from living a good life and enjoying the time we have with our family.

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Even though he only had one arm and one leg he didn’t consider himself disabled. He had a positive attitude, and was more grateful than ever for being alive, being able to work, and being a husband, father, and grandfather. 

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As parents we can help our children embrace their challenges and grow stronger as they face them. Let’s help them to be grateful for who they are and encourage them to adopt a “live to live” philosophy.


Happy Failing Forward,


Calvert Cazier


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