Living the Mission: Matt Curran’s 33 Foundation
Living the Mission: Matt Curran’s 33 Foundation
By Vicki-Ann Downing ’21G
Each year since 2010, Matt Curran ’02, ’04G has made life easier for someone with a spinal cord injury. His 33 Foundation has helped individuals, organizations, and families by raising funds to pay for adaptive vehicles, home remodels, college tuition, and more.
In 2001, while vacationing with his Friar ice hockey teammates in Florida, Curran fell 33 feet from a balcony onto concrete, breaking 28 bones and damaging his spine. He spent 12 weeks in a coma and several months at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. He was paralyzed from the chest down and was told there was a 1-in-10-million chance he would walk again.
He was 21 years old.
Five months later, Curran walked out of the Shepherd Center using leg braces and crutches. He returned for his senior year at PC and graduated on time. Though he could not play hockey, the team, staff, and school welcomed him back. He lived with teammates and attended training sessions. He completed an MBA while working as a graduate assistant with PC Athletics and undergoing outpatient rehabilitation therapy.
“Statistics say one thing, but everybody is different. I was incredibly lucky,” Curran said. “When you have a spinal cord injury, you’re working as hard as you ever did in athletics, but nothing ever seems to improve. You think, maybe I should just stop pushing so hard. That’s the dark place you just can’t go.”
“When I started rooting for the person across the hall from me as much as for myself, I could move my toe,” Curran said.
Today, Curran lives in Norfolk, Massachusetts, with his wife, Audra, and their 10-year-old daughter, Cameron, who both help with the foundation along with a team of volunteers. He runs the corporate development function for NWN, a large technology services business, and works on his physical recovery every day.
Each month, Curran receives multiple calls for assistance. He chooses one individual each year to “move forward.” The recipient must be driven, determined, and willing to share his story with donors at the 33 Foundation’s annual fall event, which includes a golf tournament.
“People listening realize, ‘That could be me, or my son or my daughter,’” said Curran. “This work has a special place in my heart.”
