Nearly 35 years ago, Gloria Estefan nearly died in a freak accident when a semi-truck collided with her tour bus in Pennsylvania.
The Grammy Award-winning artist, then 32, was thrown to the floor of the bus, breaking his hip and leaving him temporarily paralyzed.
Estefan was warned he might never walk again, but with help from doctors and his own determination, the “Conga” singer returned to the stage almost a year later. Since then, she has been a vocal advocate for paralysis research, donating more than $42 million to support research into spinal cord injuries.
Gloria Estefan recalls broken bones in 1990 bus accident
Gloria Estefan has dedicated her life (and millions of dollars) to researching paralysis after a near-fatal bus accident. (Getty Images)
Estefan remembered being told how bad his injuries were after the 1990 accident.
“They always have to present the worst-case scenario, and I was paralyzed by the accident,” she said. CBS Morning. “I was relapsed in a hospital here in New York due to joint disease.”
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Estefan said she understood “what families go through” because her father was in a wheelchair. But being in a wheelchair was one of her biggest fears.
“They always have to present the worst-case scenario, and I was paralyzed by that accident.”
Estefan was 32 years old when she was involved in a tour bus accident. (Getty Images)
“We put an elevator in our house because we felt we would need it someday…I thank God we did that because we had it for a long time,” she said.
Estefan partnered with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, co-founded by former Miami Dolphins player Nick Buoniconti and Dr. Bath Green. She said the foundation has made “amazing progress” on research projects, with “175 people working towards finding a cure.”
When asked if a cure for paralysis is on the horizon, Estefan remains determinedly optimistic.
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“I believe it will, and it must. Look at how many things have been healed,” she said. “When I was a kid, if you said the 'C' word, cancer, you thought it was over, but now there are so many cancer treatments.
“We put an elevator in our house because we felt we would need it someday…I thank God we did that because we had it for a long time.”
Gloria and her husband Emilo Estefan have been married since 1978 and the couple have a daughter, Emily (pictured), and a son, Naib. (David M. Bennett/Dave Bennett/Getty Images)
“And this will have a lot of great benefits for diseases like Alzheimer's disease, MS, which my father had after being poisoned with Agent Orange, and Parkinson's disease, because these are all neurological-related diseases, and this That's why research is so important.”
Estefan remembered how slow her recovery was, but her accomplishments felt great, no matter how big or small.
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“Six months after the accident, I was able to wear underwear by myself. I wanted to throw a party,” Estefan said.
“And that's when I even started thinking about getting back on stage and showing people that you can overcome difficult things if you just deal with them. But within a year, I didn't want to go back on stage. It took me three years to feel like I was at my best.”
