Not even expected to survive, Steinhauer make a shocking recovery and set a goal to run the 2013 ING NYC Marathon.
Steinhauer, a Stuyvesent High School Graduate, was a senior honors student at Binghamton University just weeks away from taking his first job as an accountant, when he faced a challenge that put him in the race of his life.
"To start off it was just wrong place wrong time, " says Steinhauer. He does not offer much more about what happened, to him it doesn't matter.
A simple but devastating explanation of a brutal attack that locked him in a 3 month coma. It was the starting line of a totally different course than the one he imagined.
"You have nothing physically, you cant walk, no mobility, mentally you are confursed and emotional, you are hurt and distraught," said Steinhauer.
It happened in 2008 at an off campus bar. A 6'9" 260 lb Serbian Basketball player ruthlessly kicked and stomped on the 135 lb Steinhauer. A beating so brutal, he was not expected to talk again. And when he woke up, he had to learn to walk, starting literally with one foot in front of the other.
After my physical therapy I just kept up on the treadmill at the gym and then in the park," he said.
His determination led to laps around Prospect Park which turned into training for the New York Half Marathon. In April -he threw his hands up in triumph.
"I'm a success story, I'm not a victim and here I am to prove it to you, to the world," said Steinhauer.
As Bryan aimed for the full marathon, he invited runners to join him on a fundraising team for the organization "Minds Over Matter", a group he started to support young people with traumatic brain injury.
"I'm excited, physically emotionally, mentally ready for the 26 miles," he said.
For him, completing this race is a huge milestone but do not expect it be his finish line. Someone who could so easily be bitter, even revengeful, is instead grateful. And inspirational.
"A lot of people who were hurt like me don't get the chance to recover like I have. I had the best medical care, the best support, the best love and through such attention I've been able to recover, so now it's my turn to give other people the chance to do the same. My effort I can control and I will try my hardest always," said Bryan.
Look for Bryan Steinhauer and his team Minds over Matter on Race Day Nov. 3rd.
