Matt’s love of sports came from his dad, a former high school and college basketball star who went on to coach at the college level. As a young child Matt and his sister learned to throw, field, shoot and dream big. Matt was the starting guard on the varsity basketball team at Santa Fe Christian High school and competed in the Southern Section Division 5 CIF Championships. Months later, on May 1, 2003 a dive into a dark, shallow pool at a friend’s house resulted in complete quadriplegia at the C-4 level. Matt took classes at Palomar College and moved to Cal for a year before returning to San Diego as his dad was ill and his mom wanted him to be closer to home so that she could better care for the two of them. Soon thereafter, Matt's dad took him aside to let him know that he had ALS. He soon passed away from the disease. Matt returns to finish his degree and honor his dad's wishes with hopes to become a counselor for those who have been through spinal cord trauma, PTSD, and severe depression.