Charles Potter woke up unable to move anything from the neck down.
A drunk driver had hit him in 2006 in Winchester, Virginia, and doctors told him he would have to learn how to do everything all over again: crawl, eat, hold his head up. A process he himself describes as “super intense”. Years later, that same wheelchair would become the center of the most tender moment he had ever experienced.
His daughter Charlize, 6 years old, was born long after the accident. When the girl asked him if he wanted to join her at her class’s father-daughter hip-hop dance, Charles didn’t hesitate: “If you want to, absolutely. We’ll make it work”. They learned the choreography in four days, in their living room, using a tutorial video the school sent them and a few adjustments designed for him. His wife, Rhonda Conrad, recorded the moment and uploaded it to TikTok with a warning: “Don’t drink and drive”. The video surpassed 13 million views and more than 2 million “likes”.
Along with the messages of support came others, sadder ones, from people who wrote that their father had never been there for them. Charles remains convinced that everything happens for a reason, and he offers this advice to anyone going through a difficult time: “Put one foot in front of the other, because what you’re going through today won’t last forever”.