UnderSeaLevel.com
Photography by David Miller
Greetings viewer,
I was born In West Los Angeles California, where I had a fun childhood filled with bike riding, skateboarding, swimming, and going to the beach. I excelled in gymnastics in high school and was recruited to Long Beach Community College where I actually competed in springboard diving. After 2 years I transferred to Cal State University, Long Beach where I resumed competing in gymnastics. At the end of the year, 5 days before PCAA's I severely injured my knee, tearing cartilage and ligaments.
A few years after my knee surgery, I took a course in SCUBA diving. I went on to get my Advanced
Open Water Certification with NAUI.
A few years later I bought my first underwater camera. Since then, I have
traveled the globe to bring you the finest underwater images.
After graduating CSULB, I continued my education at CSULB completing my coursework for a Master's Degree in Physiology, while doing my thesis research in biochemistry. I was accepted to medical school at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. Wow, was that environmental and culture shock for this Southern California boy!
After graduating medical school, I moved to Farmington Hills, MI for my internship at Botsford General Hospital. I complete my first year of a Neurology Residency there, before I changed my focus to Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine, and got my first job as an Occupational Medicine doctor for a busy acute injury clinic. It was while working there, that I met my wife Renee.
My Clinic offered to move me out to their clinic in Phoenix, AZ and I accepted. Over the next four years, while working for two other
busy occupational medicine firms, I opened my own Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine clinic in 1999 and I completed the coursework for
Board Certification in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and became Board Certified in 2000. I am Certified competent in Cranial Manipulation
by the Cranial Academy, an affiliated organization of the American Academy of Osteopathy. I am also trained in Visceral Manipulation
with the man that wrote the books Jean-Pierre Barral from France.
During this same time frame, I married my wife Renee. A few years later, we adopted our son Jacob, and four years after that we adopted our daughter Kelly. They are the apples of my eyes, and the reason I get out of bed in the morning.
I was totally disabled in January 2005, by a drunk driver that struck my car head-on at almost 100 mph. My legs were shattered and I had a flail chest, a retroperitoneal bleed, and a couple discs in my neck to name but a few injuries. A Foot and Ankle Orthopedist from the Mayo Clinic recommended amputation. I've had seven surgeries, three transfusions and sepsis, and spent over a year in a wheelchair. I had a non-healing wound in my Achilles for 18 months. Now three years after my accident, I'm finally to the point where I can walk short distances satisfactorily, and hope that someday I can return to the active lifestyle I once enjoyed. There are still so many places I want to capture on film.
Currently I work extremely part-time, teaching Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine one day a month at A.T Still University in Mesa, AZ. I am focusing on my rehabilitation program and my family. I am completing my requirements for Fellowship in the American Academy of Osteopathy.
UnderSeaLevel.com