When Al Saccoccia walked into his doctor's appointment for his routine epidural treatment, he did not imagine never walking again.

"On November 30, 2020, I had a epidural injection that paralyzed me instantly from chest down among other things. It was the doctor's error," Al said.

He said the doctor punctured the main anterior spinal artery, which is the biggest artery to the spine; Al then had a spinal stroke.

Saccoccia attended Meshanticut Park Elementary 1-4 (the last class to go there) and then George J. Peters for grades 5 and 6. Then he went to Western Hills and Cranston West.

"I wrestled when I was at Western Hills, and did track and field. I came in 2nd in state for Discus. At Cranston West I played football until I shattered my wrist senior year. I won two scholarships in the Vocational Architecture program; to the Hall Institute and New England Tech," he said.

He's married to Cheryl Saccoccia and they have two German shepherds and a cat that he considers his kids.

Al owned Saccoccia Construction for 12 years until he got hurt and had his first spinal fusion. He ended up closing the business in 2000.

"In 2000 I then opened up Cafe Di'Mare on Bowens Wharf in Newport for six years until I sold, and then bought Cafe Latte on Atwood Avenue and ran that for nine years," he said.

They sold it in 2005 to move closer to home and purchased Cafe Latte on Atwood Avenue and renamed it The Corner Cafe.

"We outgrew that which had 43 seats so we went bigger. In 2014 we opened The Music Man Cafe which had a capacity of 146 and was doing great. We served breakfast lunch and dinner and also had entertainment Wednesday through Saturday, mostly bands," Al said.

They were recognized as a Top 10 Brunches in the state and got an award for his "gagootz and eggs" which is an Italian dish made of zucchini, squash, sauteed onions, eggs and cheese.

"We were there until we did a political fundraiser, and had problems with a local councilman. We currently are still in Federal Court, it's been four and half years now," Al said.

Changing career directions, Al went on to start Premium Transportation.

"I drove clients from Maine to D.C. with such stars as Lil Durk, Chevy Chase, and I spent a week and a half with Sophia Loren as her driver and security. I also did the Jennifer Lawrence wedding," he said.

He went to the Pain Management doctor for roughly 10 years and received countless shots.

Al, ironically was having the epidurals because he did not want surgery and the shots allowed him to work, ride his Harley and simply enjoy his life.

"I am paralyzed from chest down with no bladder and bowels. As the doctors have told us there is no hope of ever walking. I'm proving them wrong. I can take a couple steps with a walker or some help," Al said proudly.

Al recalls the events of Nov. 30, 2020, with exact details and many emotions.

"I told the doctor it didn't feel right and he said well you haven't been here because of covid. What do I know I'm just a patient... third shot in I started screaming 'Pull it out! Pull it out!' The doctor said 'NO' I needed 10-20 seconds more and in that time from chest (nipples) down caught fire and bowels let go," Al said.

Al remembers the after time quite clearly.

"That was it all in a split second. The doctor took me off table and put me in an exam room and told an assistant to keep bringing me water and apple juice. He left me there. This happened at roughly 10:20-10:30 a.m.," he said.

The rest of the day is still clear as yesterday for Al.

"I didn't get to hospital until 7:13 p.m. He kept me there for nine hours while pacing back and forth and doing other procedures. When Cheryl came to pick me she said if he didn't call 911 she was calling the police. After a simple rectal and pin test I knew I would never walk again," Al stated.

If it weren't for his immediate family he'd be lost.

"Cheryl has had to learn how to be a nurse; doing transfers, catheters, bandages etc. I can't believe what she has done for me but we've together 20 years," he said.

His late dad Ed owned Edsac Music for over 60 yrs, 41 of which were in Knightsville. His grandfather made the gold crowns for the St. Mary's Madonna Della Civita. His family originally came from Itri, Italy.

"My mother Lucille has be a huge help and my brother Nick has become Cheryl's second husband around the house," he said.

Al spent 20 days at Rhode Island Hospital until he was moved to Spaulding Rehab in Charleston, Massachusetts.

"While I was at RI Hospital they had to do had what is called an XLIF spinal fusion; L1, L2 and L3. Basically it's a spinal fusion that they do through the ribs. They had to do it that way because of being paralyzed, they were worried about bed sores which could take years to heal literally. They had to fuse my spine to relieve pressure and it had to be done before I went to Spaulding," he said.

Al ended up having two more spinal fusions.

"The L2, L3 is one fusion and L4, L5, S1 is another. They basically failed and I needed to have them redone. I was having epidurals for the pain and the fact I don't like taking pain pills and I refused to have another operation," Al said.

Ironically, he was going to Orthopedic on December 31, 2020, to talk about having a spinal stimulator which hopefully would result in him not needing the epidurals.

"In the end I had the fusion, I'm on pain pills and never made it to the Orthopedic," he said.

Al returned to Spaulding, during the height of Covid and was unable to have visitors.

The last time he saw my wife was getting in rescue and then not for 93 days.

"Going through this mentally was horrendous, nothing like being told you'll never walk and you're alone. Facebook became my way to the outside world as I called it," he said.

Al received a phone call from his epidural doctor the second night he was at Spaulding.

"You can learn how to live like this. I will have a company come in morning take you out of bed and put you in wheelchair and at night take me out of chair and put me in bed," he said.

Al is classified as ASIA B, T10 down Incomplete (American Spinal Injury Association). Basically only ASIA A is worse.

"I have what is called a Suprapubic Tube (catheter through bladder) which will be the death of me. I have had 16 UTIs which are extremely serious for someone in my condition spending up to a week in hospital for a few of them. I had Sepsis which was nine days in the hospital and two months of transfusions," Al said.

He also had kidney stones which he could not feel. They dropped and blocked the ureter, and he ended up with a kidney infection and stents in his kidneys.

"I now have awful spasms to the point I can't move, and I deal with what is called Autonomic Dysreflexia and many paralyzed people have it. My blood pressure has been as high as 259/168 as the doctor put it next time I may not be so lucky. Cranston rescue has been here eight or nine times, and I have to say Cranston Fire Department is the best," he said.

In total, Al has spent 147 days in hospitals in the last 14 months.

Al's home, which they've lived in for 20 years, is not conducive to the life that Al lives now.

"I have a small ranch that and I literally have three spots where I can turnaround with my wheelchair and I find myself going stir-crazy. I can't get into any rooms or basement where we have half of our living space. I've been living in my dining room since I got home," he said.

Being left with his thoughts is not a good place to be.

"When I'm alone is the worst, I find myself staring out the window. I find myself thinking of what life would be if I didn't have that shot. If the doctor had had only listened to me screaming 'pull it out, pull it out' because I felt a pain that nobody should ever feel and he refused," he said.

There have been people that have said he needs to get over it .

"Well, I can honestly say that is easier said than done. I can accept being paralyzed. What I can't accept is how it happened. I tell people if I went down on my motorcycle you say well there is a danger to it. You don't walk into a doctor's office to never walk out," he said.

"Recently, I was given three options: another spinal surgery, possibly another fusion, (I'm already fused L1, 2, 3, 4, 5, S1) a morphine pump which I don't want or a spinal stimulator. None of these will help me walk, it will just help with the pain," he said.

To date, Al has endured five spinal fusions, eight incarcerated hernias, sepsis twice and cellulitis throughout his life along with Brachialplexopathy of left side, and a tear in his shoulder now.

As much pain and distress Al has endured, his loving wife Cheryl has been by his side the entire time.

"Life can change in literally a second and there is no preparation for it. Al hasn't been able to get in the bathroom up until recently so that has always been a problem because even though we are husband and wife he still feels funny me taking care of him in the bathroom sense because nothing works in that department," Cheryl said.

Al's constant pain and discomfort make Cheryl very discouraged.

"He is always in so much pain that it kills me to see him like this. It's awful to see him suffer at night, not sleeping because he's in so much pain and I can't help him. As much as we love each other we'd like to kill each other at times," she joked.

Al has also experienced personality changes.

"As far as mentally, he is not the same. He gets anxiety in public when he never had anxiety in his life. His spark is gone, he was always the one joking around and loved people but he is not the same person," Cheryl said.

Nothing is easy for him, and he hates asking for help and he won't and sometimes the excruciating pain keeps him in the house.

"He was always on the go and now just stays in all day. We are both sad and dismayed how our close friends have disappeared and we are angry about it. You really find out who your friends are during a crisis like this but on flip side friends from school 34 years ago are coming out of the woodwork," she said.

While Al owned the transportation company, they met a gentleman three years ago who operated the same type of business.

"We hit it off, and have been friends ever since. He surprised us with an all expense paid trip to his wedding in Cabo San Lucas. That is a beautiful person, and a true friend," she said.

Cheryl reiterated Al's frustration at the lack of room and mobility he currently has in their home.

"We need to make our house more accessible, there are only three spots he can turn around in the room he has been living in. He hasn't been in our basement since this happened and half our living space is down there," she said.

The future for Al and Cheryl is unclear.

"Our plans for the future is that he needs to figure what is best for him because he is looking at another surgery and also one possible on his shoulder. I hope he can find a job he likes. He loved what he did before. He is also a person who can't not be doing something," Cheryl said.

Kim Zompa-Sanzi has organized a fundraiser to help in making their home more accessible for Al.

Tickets cost $40 per person, and includes a food buffet, raffles and entertainment including: Music Express DJing throughout the afternoon, Danny Tuirok will be singing, Michael Panarello from The Jersey Boys and comedy performances by Ace Aceto and John Perrotta.

The event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022 at Tomaselli's at Rosario, 17 Rosario Drive, Providence.

Complete details and information, are here; https://www.facebook.com/events/414654983773017/?ref=newsfeed.