Gloria Estefan established herself as one of the biggest musical acts of the 80s with hits as the face of Miami Sound Machine and as a solo artist. Most of us know her for dance floor anthems like “Conga” and “Dr. Beat,” but few people realize that a 1990 accident nearly cost Estefan not just her career but her life.
While Estefan was on tour for her debut solo album, Cuts Both Ways, a semi-truck crashed into the side of her tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania. “I was taking a nap on the bus, trying to be fresh for the show that night, and suddenly I was lying on the floor, not able to stand up,” Estefan told People during a 2020 interview, 30 years after the accident. “The pain was excruciating.” She suffered a fractured spine from the accident and was told she may never regain the ability to walk again.
“After my accident, I couldn’t imagine going from being almost paralyzed to walking again. I made myself short-term goals to accomplish,” Estefan says about the rigorous recovery regimen she underwent to return to the stage. “Don’t think about that daunting thing that seems unattainable — think about what I can do today to be just that much closer to that goal.”
After undergoing four hours of surgery to repair her fractured vertebrae, Estefan began physical therapy to learn how to move again. “About six months after the accident, I was able to put my underwear on by myself. That was a big deal,” she told CBS News. The little victories inspired show others recovery was possible: “I remember thinking, ‘Maybe this is the reason that I’ve gone through this; maybe I can be an example to people of how to take control of our lives and get past hurdles.’”
A year after the accident, Estefan dropped her comeback album Into the Light and launched an accompanying international tour. She would continue to reach a new level of success when her 1993 Spanish-language album, Mi Tierra, won her first of three Grammy Awards. Nearly a decade after the accident, Estefan became the first Latin artist to headline a Super Bowl Halftime show. Much of Estefan’s career highlights occurred following her injury and she recognizes how lucky she is to have recovered and has donated over $42 million to paralysis research.
Growing up with a father who used a wheelchair due to Multiple Sclerosis, Estefan says she “feels so blessed” to have fully recovered and hopes to be part of curing paralysis for all. She works closely with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a foundation co-founded by Nick Buoniconti and Dr. Barth Green. Now headed by Buoniconti’s son Marc, who was paralyzed at 19, Estefan says the project is closer than ever to finding a cure. “We’re already using interfaces with the brain to help muscles move, along with so many incredible research projects that they have,” she told CBS Mornings.
Estefan is steadfast in her belief that paralysis will be cured. “Look how many things have been cured,” she says. “I know when I was a child, if they told you the “C” word, cancer, that was the end.” Breakthroughs in cancer research have extended the lives of many diagnosed with cancer — the National Cancer Institute reports the projected number of cancer survivors to grow to 26 million by 2040 — and Estefan is hopeful that paralysis research can similarly lead to people being effectively cured of their paralysis.
Published: Oct 9, 2024 03:18 am