In 2003, while working at Metro-East Industries in East St. Louis and volunteering at Belleville East, Genin suffered the injury that could easily have cost him his life, not to mention his career as a coach and trainer.
He was hooking two train cars together when the coupler of one pinned him against the coupler of another.
The impact fractured his sacrum —the bone at the bottom of the spinal column— and separated the bottom of his pelvis.
That part hurt. But Genin said what hurt more was the aftermath.
THE MOST PAINFUL PART IS AFTER ALL THE INFLAMMATION KICKS IN. EVERY LITTLE JOLT, EVERY LITTLE MOVEMENT IS EXTREMELY PAINFUL. I HAD TO GO FROM BARELY BEING ABLE TO TAP MY FOOT ON THE GROUND ALL THE WAY UP TO FULL SPECTRUM WHERE I COULD DO ENTIRE WORKOUTS
Jeremy Genin