Seeing the better side: Josh Foster turns tragedy into a new opportunity

Josh Foster’s exercise routine made Romen McDonald, the owner of Squad Fitness, stop in his tracks.

“The first time I saw Josh, he was suspended in the air doing dips while his wheelchair was attached to him,” McDonald said.

Foster has used a wheelchair since a March 2013 car wreck injured his spinal cord. Despite that, McDonald immediately wanted to hire the 32-year-old to work at Squad, which is located in Trussville and Homewood.

“I was instantly inspired and knew this would motivate others,” McDonald said.

The opportunity was just as welcome for Foster, who has been in love with fitness since he was a kid and needed a positive direction as he worked to come back from the car wreck.

“It was just emotional, because, when I got hurt, I had no idea what I was going to do,” he said. “I had no clear vision. It was just like the best door opened up.”

Foster has made good use of the opportunity at Squad, where he began work in November 2014, using it as a chance to teach people the value and power of fitness and to preach the value of positive thinking – even after a horrific event.

And Foster clearly has fun with his clients. When he leads workouts at the Trussville location, he wheels quickly and easily from one area of the floor to the other, watching a group of about 15 or 20 people doing interval training to burn calories.

“I’m very blessed that a lot of them like my energy and the way I teach and coach,” Foster said.

He has also earned McDonald’s respect.

“Josh is an expert at helping people get the most out of their workouts,” the gym owner said, adding that Foster is adept at making “the right modification” to a workout to allow a client to get the most gain.

Foster is also inspirational, according to gym regular Nicole Rembert of Birmingham. “You see him working out, doing exercises, it makes you feel you can do the same thing.”

Before joining Squad, and before his wreck, Foster – whose previous job was installing custom window treatments – never worked in the fitness industry.

“But I would help anybody out at the gym,” Foster said. “I knew what to do. I just didn’t get paid. I always loved fitness, and it was always right there at my fingertips. I made choices where I didn’t follow that passion before I got hurt.”

The single-vehicle wreck happened about a quarter mile from Foster’s home. Driving a 2002 Chevrolet Impala, he ran off a slick road after a rain. “I hit a tree dead center,” he said.

His T-10 vertebrae was separated from the spine, and he spent 27 days at UAB Hospital and Spain Rehab.

Since that shattering event – “I was broken in half, basically,” he said – Foster has made a heroic comeback.

In his recovery, Foster could draw on his long background of lifting weights – he began lifting as a freshman at Fultondale High School – and playing football and baseball.

“Challenging myself physically was always fun,” he said.

He began going to the gym for light workouts as soon as he could and, after about six months, “started really getting after it,” he said.

Throughout his recovery, Foster said he tried to keep a good attitude and to send out a positive message to his friends and family.

“I like people to see the better side of a negative situation,” said Foster, who shared the “whole journey” of his recovery on Facebook and Instagram.

“Being positive just works for me,” he said. “I just like it better.”

He challenges the stereotypes some people have of people in wheelchairs, according to Squad client Meaghan Rowe of Hoover.

“Josh shows everyone that he is just like you and me. He can work out,” she said. “He is physically fit. He is not limited.”

“Josh had every reason to give up on fitness after his accident, but he has never given up on bettering himself, so it pushes people around him to never quit,” McDonald said.

There is perhaps a loving but stern challenge implicit in Foster’s example, in the way he has refused to let his injury stop him from being part of the physical culture he loves.

“If a man can push through a lot of the stuff I’ve gone through and learn the things I have and experience some pretty negative moments, and still do the [things I do], you can at least work out and try to change,” Foster said. “Till you take that last breath, there is an opportunity to change.”