Aaron Balcom

A career in the entertainment industry, as an actor / Daredevil Illusionist, which spanned over 20 years. Live international stage, television & movie appearances. Performer of the largest illusion ever attempted in history. Successfully performed the one escape that eluded even the great Harry Houdini, being buried alive. And it all came to a crashing halt in 2014, while rehearsing an escape stunt for my own reality show, which was set to premiere later that year. The equipment malfunctioned, resulting in neck, spinal & multiple brain injuries, leaving me paralyzed & not expected to live. Yet, all these years later, while my recovery is still ongoing, I have made tremendous progress & am now working on finishing up the book to tell the entire whirlwind of my life story, with emphasis on my life since the accident & how I have learned to adapt. The main focus is to inspire others, no matter what the challenges they face, to work hard, keep pushing, fight & most importantly, to NEVER GIVE UP...! All proceeds will be donated to paraplegic, quadriplegic & neurological injury research, in general. I look forward to getting the finishing touches on this wrapped up & if reading it changes the outlook for even one person, then my entire journey will have been well worth it...! never.give.up.

Escapades With Uncle Guido… “The Time He Was Kung Fu Fighting!” A song came on in the doctor’s waiting room and I immediately started dying. Miss Gina looked over like, “What now...?!” I tried to tell the story without collapsing and sliding out of my wheelchair. Failed completely. By the end she was gone too...eyes wet, non-stop laughter coming from her mouth, that pure Italian “are you serious?” face. Early 2000s. Howard Beach. Unseasonably warm. Me and Uncle Guido pull into the Pan-Bay Center parking lot for whatever reason, I don't even remember why we were there now. We get out of the car and there it is: the most epic lowrider “whip” you’ve ever seen. Candy-apple green. Gold rims, with curb feelers. Fur stretched across the dashboard like it was auditioning for a rap video. Hydros fully engaged so the whole car was bouncing and hopping in place like it had opinions. And blasting out of it, windows down, volume cranked to absolute criminal levels? Kung Fu Fighting. Carl Douglas screaming across the lot while this candy-green monster kept bouncing to the beat. Uncle Guido...old-school Sicilian NYC tough guy who was almost always in a sharp suit, perfect tie, shoes you could see your reflection in...was, on this rare occasion, in a tracksuit. Which, in hindsight, was the only way any of what happened next was even physically possible. Zero formal training in anything that involved martial arts. Didn’t matter. He just… starts. Jumping. Spinning. Karate chops that have never been seen in any dojo on Earth. High kicks that are mostly enthusiasm. Yelling things that sound martial-artsy but are 100% made up on the spot. Full theatrical commitment. The man is performing… right in front of this bouncing, fur-dashboarded, gold-rimmed green lowrider that’s providing the soundtrack like it’s a private concert. Tracksuit and all. A crowd forms. Then more people. Then people stop walking to their cars. They’re cheering. Clapping. Calling out moves like this is a legit demonstration. The car keeps hopping. The song keeps going. I am on the verge of actual collapse. Uncle Guido is eating every second of it. The song either got remixed into infinity or the driver just hit replay (while the hydros kept the car dancing), because this goes on for what feels like ten solid minutes of pure, unhinged parking-lot theatre. When it finally ends, he takes bows. Actual bows. People are shaking his hand, telling him how incredible his technique is, how you can see the years of training and what an expert he is. Expert at bullshit. Absolute masterclass. 🤣 Then a woman walks up with a crumpled McDonald’s bag. “We passed it around,” she says. “We couldn’t just enjoy a display of your craft that must have taken years to perfect without showing some appreciation.” He tries to wave it off. She will not hear it. (Ironically, this was not the only time I watched Uncle Guido get handed a bag of cash in a parking lot… but those were, um... different circumstances. 😉) We laughed about that day for years. Gina’s first question after I finished telling her: “So wait! He really didn’t know martial arts?” Not one single bit. But he put on a show. And that candy-apple green lowrider with the gold rims and the fur dashboard and the bouncing hydros made the whole thing ten times more unhinged. (And thank God for the tracksuit...there is simply no universe where any of that happens in a suit and tie...! 😂) That memory still makes me smile every time it comes up. Hope it does the same for you. So...the next time you hear the classic Carl Douglas banger...play it loud while you picture a Sicilian tough guy in a tracksuit inventing an entire martial art in front of a hopping, fur-dashboarded lowrider in a Howard Beach parking lot. youtube.com/watch?v=bjnFXgdy… #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #EscapadesWithUncleGuido #UncleGuido #FamilyStories #NYC #HowardBeach #KungFuFighting #ItalianFamily #OldSchool #ParkingLotLegend #SicilianEnergy

My Quadriplegic Life…! 🚨♿️ ✨ Busy week starts this morning with a doctor’s appointment. Just a check-up… nothing dramatic. But...blah! 😆 But the real update is better than any appointment note. Here's what has been going on: Since the accident, tinnitus has been a loud, unwanted roommate. We dialed it down for a while, it came roaring back, and then… as if it got bored… it eased off again. Not gone, but a whole lot quieter. I’ll take it. Sleep has been its own war. But now...for weeks now I’ve actually been sleeping. Real sleep. The kind that makes you feel human again. (If I just jinxed it by saying that out loud… so be it. Worth the risk.) And the muscle spasms that were getting really bad? Since we switched treatment approaches, they’ve basically packed their bags. One minor one the other day. That’s it. Quiet. No more launching me out of my wheelchair...! The quirks are settling down. The recovery keeps inching forward. Every single one of those inches is proof that the “this is as far as you’ll go” crowd was wrong. Never doubt a quad. We’re built tougher than the script most people get handed. And if someone decides to doubt me? That’ll be fun. Now watch me. ✨❤️♿️ #MyQuadriplegicLife #NeverDoubtAQuad #ImPossible #SCIWarrior #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #EnabledNotDisabled #QuadLife #RecoveryIsPossible #SpinalCordInjury

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ “The late-night ‘private tour’ that went exactly as I planned… and nowhere near where she thought it was headed.” Turn back the clocks...to 2012. My ill-fated TV show just getting rolling with production. My new actress girlfriend. I had what I thought was a killer date idea: nice dinner, then a late-night private tour of the warehouse / private museum. Rare Houdini (and all of the greats, but this is Harry's weekend!) and magic books, original props, costumes, posters, scripts, the whole lifetime of hunting history that most people never get to see. She seemed genuinely excited. Cool. Dinner was great. We roll up to the warehouse. I’m already in full historian mode...pointing out who owned what, the stories behind the pieces, the theatrical genius behind the illusions. She’s smiling, asking questions, nodding along. I’m thinking: This is going perfectly. Around 4 a.m. (my then classic night-owl schedule: bed at 3-4, on set at 7), we’re wrapping up. She looks at me and says: Her: “You’re not like typical guys.” Me: “I’m not?” Her: “No. Not at all.” Me: “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Her: “It’s a very good thing. You really just brought me here to show me the history of acting and magic, didn’t you?” Me: “Of course. What else would I have brought you here for?” Her (laughing): “I thought this date was going to go in a very different direction.” Me, still completely lost: “Why? Anything else would have taken time away from showing you all this.” Later I finally realized what she’d assumed “private tour of my collection” meant. 🤣 She’d read the whole evening as a euphemism, for...um...something else. I had read it as an opportunity to geek out over antiquarian magic and Hollywood memorabilia until the sun came up. We laughed about it afterward. She was right...I wasn’t like typical guys that night. I was deep in the zone where the collection is the only thing on the radar. Same zone I’m still in all these years later. The accident rewrote a lot of the script, but that particular obsession never left. It’s still the thing that gets me going, and now pieces of it are headed into a charity event that turns the history into real support for SCI and brain-injury research. Some things never change. The show just finds new ways to keep going. On with the show… Oh, the places we’ll go…! ❤️♿️ Abracadabra…! Poof…! It’s MAGIC…! ✨🪄 #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #QuadriplegicJourney #SCIWarrior #EnabledNotDisabled #ImPossible #SpinalCordInjury #TBISurvivor #NeverDoubtAQuad #QuadLife

🚨Exciting early progress in nerve repair. ✨♿️ Dr. David Sinclair’s lab developed a partial cellular reprogramming approach using three genes (OSK factors). In a 2020 Nature study, this helped regenerate damaged optic nerves and restore vision in mice with injury, glaucoma, and age-related vision loss. That work has now moved into the first human trial (via Life Biosciences). Early data from the first few glaucoma patients show the therapy was well-tolerated, with some early improvements in visual field tests. Why this matters beyond the eye: the optic nerve is central nervous system tissue, so success here is a meaningful step for understanding how we might one day help other CNS injuries..including the spinal cord. Other labs are also exploring related reprogramming strategies for SCI. Still very early, but real and encouraging progress. time.com/article/2026/10/08/… #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #SpinalCordInjury #SCI #NerveRegeneration #GeneTherapy #AgingResearch #Neuroscience #OpticNerve #CellularReprogramming

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ "Houdini’s Passing at 100 years!" Hope you’ve enjoyed the little tour through some of the Houdini posts today. I’ve spent my life studying the man...not just the magic, but every angle of who he was. He remains endlessly fascinating. Here’s a quick snapshot of a few pieces from the collection. Please ignore the rough paint on the hand prop. It’s mid-restoration / paint stripping right now, so it looks a little funky. It had been painted (poorly) many times over the years. We’re almost down to the original color on the bottom...you can kind of see it. It’ll look right once we’re finished. The current layer is sort of a funky metal flake brown. I won't say what I think it looks like... 😆 Also… if you look really closely… there might be one photo that isn’t Houdini. It could be a super dorky former actor / illusionist turned quadriplegic advocate and his amazing goddess Gina on a fairly recent date at the zoo. I could keep going on different sides of his life and career, but for now I’m calling it. There are some special Houdini events I’m involved with, and it’s time to make an appearance. Abracadabra… Poof… It’s MAGIC…! ✨🪄♿️ #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #Houdini #HarryHoudini #Houdini100 #MagicHistory #EscapeArtist #DaredevilMagic #Memorabilia #Resilience #Quadriplegic #Inspiration #TBISurvivor #HypoxiaSurvivor

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ "Houdini: The Pilot!" Among everything else he was, Harry Houdini was also an early aviator. He was only the 25th person in history to fly an airplane, and the first to make a recorded flight in Australia on March 18, 1910. (A rival claimed he beat him to it, but when the mechanic later admitted the whole story was a lie, Houdini kept the record... complete with witnesses and media.) His first flight was November 26, 1909 in Germany, in a Voisin biplane he bought for $5,000. True to form, he had his name boldly painted across the wings. His last major aviation moment came during the 1919 film The Grim Game, featuring a mid-air leap from one plane to another high above the ground. The stunt may have been more illusion than he ever let on… but that’s a story for another day. 😉 In 1920 he even announced plans for a transatlantic flight from Paris to New York. It never happened. Here is a really cool picture from my collection, showing Houdini in his famous airplane and it is one of several that I am honored to have. #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #Houdini #HarryHoudini #Houdini100 #AviationHistory #EarlyAviation #TheGrimGame #MagicHistory #EscapeArtist #DaredevilMagic #Resilience

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ "Houdini the movie star!" Beyond the escapes and illusions, Harry Houdini was also an actor (hmm...there's that pattern repeating again!) who owned his own production company. This lobby card is from his 1918 serial The Master Mystery, where he played a Justice Department agent up against a robot named Q and a shady cartel. Check the supporting characters played by Charles Graham and William Pike: Paul and Herbert BALCOM. Yeah… the stage-name inspiration is pretty obvious once you see it. 😉 My team and I are now carving out a dedicated section in the warehouse / private magic museum just for Houdini’s film career. I’ve collected enough pieces from his Hollywood days that they finally deserve their own space instead of being mixed in with everything else related to Houdini. Looking forward to unveiling it at the upcoming charity event benefiting spinal cord and brain injury research and survivors like myself. Until then, on the 100th anniversary of Houdini’s passing, here’s a little peek from the collection. #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #Houdini #HarryHoudini #Houdini100 #TheMasterMystery #MagicHistory #EscapeArtist #Hollywood #DaredevilMagic #Charity #SpinalCordInjury #BrainInjury #Resilience

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ “The connection to Orson Welles.” Yesterday I slightly pulled back the curtain on the Orson Welles exhibit we’re building in the warehouse / private magic museum for the upcoming charity event (SCI and brain injury research). Props, memorabilia, and the real theatrical genius behind the legends. Today: the story of how so many of those pieces found their way into my collection. Enter my dear friend Abb Dickson. I had known him since I was a kid. Actor. Magician. (There’s that pattern again…!) Funeral home owner. Past International President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. One of the best friends I ever had in this wild industry. Abb had a long friendship with Orson Welles and supplied him with a number of the magic props and illusions he used over the years. As time went on, I was lucky enough to acquire a solid amount of things from Abb’s collection...pieces that will soon help turn wonder into hope for those of us living with quadriplegia. You will see a souvenir program from one of Abb’s own shows in the photo, a prized piece in my collection, even if it's only a program from the 80's. A few snapshots of the man himself: As an actor on Diff’rent Strokes, he landed a role as the mailman because the female casting director thought he was “cute.” I told my mother, who also knew Abb. She looked at me and said, “Abb? Cute? Do you know another Abb Dickson?” 😆 He also teamed up for comedy magic with someone else I knew, Karrell Fox...the Detroit legend better known to in the 50's and 60's kids as Milky the Clown. Then there was the driver’s training phone call. Big conference room. About 30 of us. Woman from the front desk walks in: “You have a phone call. He says he’s an actor and a producer and urgently needs to talk to you about a role he’s negotiating for you.” I stare at her like she’s lost it. Who calls a kid in driver’s ed about an acting role… and how did they even know I was there? “He says his name is Abb Dickson.” I start laughing, get up, and take the call. Sure, he wanted to talk about that role...slightly Mostly? Old magic props. After a few minutes I finally said I was in driver’s training. He already knew. I asked if I could call him back later. We finished the conversation that evening. All these years later… I still have no idea how he knew exactly where to reach me. I wish I had asked. But, knowing Abb, he would have just laughed and said IT'S MAGIC...! 🪄 Another time I was up for a prestigious award in the magic world. Abb was on the voting committee. I got the award. I never asked if our friendship swayed the decision. Maybe I’m better off not knowing…?! 🤣 Abb was a wonderful man, a great actor and magician ...but more importantly, a better friend to me than all of those things combined. I miss him every day and still laugh at the antics we got into. Those props. That friendship. This exhibit. Same magic. Turning history, wonder, and connection into something that helps people heal. On with the show… Oh, the places we’ll go…! Abracadabra…! Poof…! It’s MAGIC…! ✨🪄♿️ #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #SCIWarrior #QuadriplegicJourney #EnabledNotDisabled #ImPossible #TheMagicIsBack #MagicMuseum #OrsonWelles #AbbDickson #MagicHistory #HollywoodMagic #CharityEvent #SpinalCordInjury #TBISurvivor #NeverDoubtAQuad

My Quadriplegic Life…! 🚨♿️ ✨ Rolling into the House of Pain with Miss Gina for our final “beatings” of the week. And something’s different. I’ve actually noticed improvements this week. Real ones. The kind that show up in real time and make you do a double-take because your brain still half-expects the old rules to apply. Of course the list of things that still don’t work is long. Very long. The body still has its own ideas. The challenges haven’t packed their bags. But here’s the part that still floors me, years later: The top doctors and specialists at the top places looked me in the eye and said this was the ceiling. This was as far as recovery went. They were wrong. The formula? Right attitude. Solid team in your corner. Absolute refusal to quit. Those three things keep rewriting what “possible” means, even long after the official story said the chapter was closed. If you or someone you love is somewhere on this same road, I’m right there with you. In your corner. Fully convinced we’re crossing that finish line together. They said impossible. We’re out here saying IM POSSIBLE. ✨❤️♿️ #MyQuadriplegicLife #QuadriplegicJourney #SCIWarrior #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #EnabledNotDisabled #NeverDoubtAQuad #ImPossible #SpinalCordInjury #TBISurvivor #HypoxiaSurvivor

My Life: From Hollywood to Quadriplegic… 🎥♿️ Under my direction, my creative team is working on the Orson Welles exhibit in the warehouse and private magic museum… and it just keeps getting better. Orson Welles was a cinematic force and a real magician (there’s a pattern with some of us...!). In 1943 he created The Mercury Wonder Show...a wild mix of circus, magic, and variety that entertained U.S. troops. Rita Hayworth started as one of his glamorous assistants (they even got married during the run), then Marlene Dietrich stepped in when studio politics pulled Rita out. Agnes Moorehead and others worked behind the scenes. The showstopper that made it into the 1944 film Follow the Boys: Orson comically (and brilliantly) sawed Marlene Dietrich in half… while she was standing up. Her legs “danced” offstage. Her upper half stayed magically suspended in mid-air. It looks like pure camera trickery. The real method is far simpler and far more complex at the same time. Pure theatrical genius. I’m proud to own a number of the actual magic props and illusions Welles used in his career, including the sawing “stocks” from that routine and the film (the saw itself has vanished into history). My creative team is currently curating a full Orson Welles exhibit that debuts at the upcoming charity event benefiting spinal cord and brain injury research. No full spoilers until the event, but here are two peeks behind the curtain: a framed photo of the prop as it sits in the museum, and a still I grabbed from the movie of Marlene after the “cut.” The logistics of inventing and performing that illusion are mind-boggling. Sharing these pieces of Hollywood magic history to help fund real recovery and research? That’s the best kind of magic...turning wonder into hope. Can’t wait to show you the rest (and more of the collection) at the event. On with the show… Oh, the places we’ll go…! Abracadabra…! Poof…! It’s MAGIC…! ✨🪄♿️ #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #SCIWarrior #QuadriplegicJourney #EnabledNotDisabled #ImPossible #TheMagicIsBack #MagicMuseum #OrsonWelles #MarleneDietrich #CharityEvent #SpinalCordInjury #TBISurvivor #MagicHistory #HollywoodMagic #NeverDoubtAQuad

🚨 SCI fam… if you’re looking at the Phase 3 RESTORE trial of NVG-291, here’s the practical info to help YOU take the next step. ❤️ ♿️ As a chronic incomplete quad myself, I’m always watching for real progress on the repair side...not hype. NVG-291 is a daily under-the-skin peptide designed to help nerves get past the chemical “scar” (CSPGs) that blocks reconnection years after injury. RESTORE (NCT07799532) is the pivotal Phase 3 testing whether 12 weeks of it can improve hand function and quality of life in people with chronic cervical motor-incomplete SCI. Key eligibility highlights (full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov ...only the study team can confirm you qualify after screening): • 18–75 years old • Traumatic cervical (neck) SCI that happened 1–10 years ago • Motor-incomplete (AIS C or D; AIS A and B are not eligible) • Motor level of C7 or higher on both sides • Additional functional thresholds (certain GRASSP hand scores, WISCI II walking score) and other medical criteria. How to join / get answers: Contact the study team directly: • Email: [email protected] • Phone: 778-731-1711 They can confirm which sites are open, answer questions, and guide you through pre-screening. Official listing: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07799532 (status: Recruiting). Sites are running across the US and Canada (up to 60 planned). Examples include Miami FL, Atlanta GA, Houston TX, Vancouver BC, and others (Birmingham AL, Downey CA, Englewood CO, etc.). The team can confirm what’s currently open and best for you. Next step: Email or call with your basics (age, level of injury, time since injury, and AIS grade if known). They’ll follow up. Enrollment is expected to continue into the second half of 2027. This is not a yet cure. It is not overnight magic. But for those of us living in the chronic years...the ones once told “this is as good as it gets”...a registrational trial focused on hand function is a historic step. If it looks like it might fit, reach out. Every participant helps move the science forward. I am more confident than ever, with all of the latest researching and emerging treatments, that what all of us living with this type of injury have always known is possible IS coming. WE ARE POSSIBLE and WE MATTER...! On with the show…Oh, the places we’ll go…! ✨❤️♿️ (Feel free to share this with anyone it might help. Always verify the latest details yourself with the study team and ClinicalTrials.gov.) #SCIWarrior #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #NVG291 #RESTORETrial #SCIResearch #ChronicSCI #EnabledNotDisabled #NeverGiveUp #QuadLife #NeuroRecovery #ImPossible #SpinalCordInjury

My Quadriplegic Journey… ♿️✨ Headed off to occupational therapy with Miss Gina for our side-by-side torture sessions. Boo… hiss…! 😈 (I love the people. I just don’t love the process.) More than walking, I really want these hands fully back. Not just for everyday stuff...so I can finally graduate from OT and get back to the kind of magic that used to live in my fingers. The pain is real. Even after all this time, it still just plain hurts. I know that’s the name of the game… but ugh. Still, I see the bigger picture. Like mine, Gina’s recovery is finally doing AMAZING. We’re both healing, adapting, and getting stronger...even on the days that feel like pure work. Every session is another step toward the version of life (and stage) we’re building. Pain now. Progress later. Worth it. On with the show…Oh, the places we’ll go…! ✨❤️♿️ #QuadriplegicJourney #SCIWarrior #FromHollywoodToQuadriplegic #EnabledNotDisabled #NeverDoubtAQuad #ImPossible #TheMagicIsBack #QuadLife #DisabilityPride #SpinalCordInjury #TBISurvivor