Roll with Me (2017) - full transcript

foodval.com - stop by if you're interested in the nutritional composition of food
---
[music]

[Gabe's Sister Abeer] He was very motivated.

You know, he wanted to become an actor.

[Gabriel] Make sure, you cut the left hash, hash, okay?

Look, man, this relationship is over.

If you need anything, you call me.

[Actor] Is everything okay, sir?

[Gabriel] Most definitely not.

[Actor] What the hell are you doing?

[Gabriel] I just moved here from Seattle,

where they think about these things.



[Gabriel's dad] He said he had an audition,

and I wished him good luck.

He said, "Dad, today is my day." After one hour,

[pause]

I received a phone call from my older son.

[Gabe's Brother Tony] I was the first person on the scene.

I got called and they tell me, you know,

"Do you know Suheil Aghabi?" I said, "Yeah...

That's my brother." So, it was

actually four blocks away from our house.

[Gabe's Mother Karimeh] I called my sister, I called my brother,

I called everybody in New York. Nobody answered me.

I said, "Oh my God, what happened?"

[Gabriel] My name is Gabriel Cordell.



I was born in Libya to Palestinian parents.

In 1976, we moved to West Hempstead, New York,

on Long Island, and that's where I grew up.

On October 17, 1992, I was on my way to my first professional

audition when a woman ran a red light and T-boned me in my jeep.

I flew out and hit a telephone pole with my back.

I became a paraplegic and I can't feel from my chest down.

I have a very addictive personality, especially

when it comes to drugs.

I started experimenting when I was 13 years old,

and by the time I was

in my 30s, I was a full-blown addict, using

coke and crystal meth.

When I got into my accident, I used drugs to deal

with my sexual frustration because I don't have

sensation from my mid chest down and at times,

I just wanted to cut my dick off, to be honest with you.

Because I just did not wanna deal-- Actually I

would cut my nuts off.

That desire does not go away.

That's what makes it so difficult for me

every single day.

To stop craving the drugs, that's not a problem, but

to stop craving sex

and the feeling that it comes with, that doesn't go away.

And that's what makes my sobriety that much more

difficult.

Because there was only one reason I used drugs.

One.

And that was to fulfill a sexual void in my life.

I kind of moved to my parents in 2008.

I went and lived in their 550-square-foot apartment when I

decided that I did not wanna try anymore.

And so, I checked out.

The last straw for me was when I was

at my parents' house and I was barbecuing.

I was so high that I didn't realize that my leg

was stuck to the bottom of a 600-degree barbecue.

My drug dealer told me that if I don't slow down

or stop, that I was going to die.

And I quit the whole lifestyle, the drugs, the

drinking, the pills.

Just woke up one day and just stopped.

[music]

[water splashing]

[Gabriel] I felt that if I didn't do something

soon and something extraordinary, I was gonna die.

I needed something to strive for.

After doing research, I wanted to attempt

to be the first person in history to roll across

the United States in a regular, standard, wheelchair.

I will be leaving California and rolling

to my hometown West Hempstead, New York.

[music]

[Gabriel] Almost broke the finger.

Woo.

This is fun, isn't it?

[door opens and shuts]

[Gabriel] Before we left, I wanted to check my body to make

sure

that I didn't do any permanent damage from the

lifestyle I was living.

[Dr. Yuri] Sometimes people who are on drugs, of course, they

can

have life-threating, ah, arrhythmias and

may die from that.

All right, my friend.

Great job.

Most importantly, there were no arrhythmias or irregular

heartbeat associated with submaximal exercise.

So, just be tuned to your body and if you

feel that this is too much for you, you stop.

[Gabriel] Yeah. [Dr. Yuri] All right.

You listen to your body.

[Dr. Alan] I'd say you have a clean bill of health for this

trip

as far as your spine goes, realizing that nothing in life

is without risk.

[Gabriel] Of course.

[Dr. Alan] He has a long fusion,

so he has metal in his spine.

He's got the risk of the hardware,

the metal, failing to the point where he needs

additional major surgery. And arms really aren't made

for getting from point A to point B.

Legs are what most people use to get from point A to point B.

So, is he going to be able to do this?

I don't know.

[Gabriel] Yes, there's danger involved,

and if something happens to my shoulders I could lose

my independence and I would have to rely on someone else

to take care of me for the rest of my life.

But I can't let down my family, I can't let down my parents.

The people who, for the longest time,

I felt ashamed for them To call me their son.

I wanna give my parents that moment

to finally say, "That's my son.

That's my boy." And no one could ever take that away from them.

[Gabriel's dad] Every single day I pray to God,

every single moment, God, please, I leave him in your

hands.

If it is good for him, help him.

If it's not good for him, please, stop it.

[Abeer] My concern is: Will his upper body keep up with him?

[Karimeh] The most I want from you is to take care of your

shoulders.

[Gabriel] I know, my shoulders.

[Karimeh] Please, habibi.

[Gabriel] Shoulders, most important thing.

[Karimeh] Really, I'm scared, but always I say, you are

between God and the Virgin Mary is gonna be with you and that's

it.

I can't say anything else.

[Gabriel's dad] Now, we drink for the health of Suheil and,

uh, we wish him a very safe and blessed trip

and he'll be back safely.

God bless everybody.

[Gabriel] Yes.

[Tony] To Suheil, and to his crew!

[music]

[Lisa] Any thoughts last night? This morning?

[Gabriel] Yeah, um, I just want to make everyone

proud, you know.

I can't-- I don't want to let anyone down, you know.

And, I'm not even talking about me.

[music]

[Lisa] There he is. There's Gabe.

Day 1.

I had gotten an email about what Gabe was gonna do, and anyone

who's going to be a first to do anything, I'm instantly

interested.

Holy shit!

I wasn't in the greatest place in my own life.

I didn't have a job.

I'm not even going fast and it's scary-- oh, ugh!

I decided to go back to school.

I was looking at nursing schools and I

kind of needed a kick in the pants.

So, I wanted to meet him.

So, he was about 10 or 15 minutes late for the meeting

and he rolls up and he's like, "I'm so sorry,

but I couldn't find a parking place." And, there

are two handicapped spots right in front of me.

[Gabriel] She's a cheater.

[Lisa] And, I said, "Is there some reason why you didn't park

there?" And he said, "Oh, I'm not handicapped."

I fell in love right there. That was it.

I said, "Well, what do you need?" He had nothing.

So, we basically had to start from the ground up.

So, I made a bunch of phone calls.

We were able to get some sponsors, but it was barely

enough

to get across the county, let alone pay a professional crew.

So, we had some volunteers, besides myself, that

wanted to come aboard. Good-hearted people.

However, it wasn't that simple.

Chris Yanke was a former drug addict.

He told me he lost everything.

[Chris] I took drugs because I couldn't deal

with my own failures when the mortgage industry imploded.

I mean, it just destroyed me.

[Lisa] Christian was basically living in

a Korean spa and kept all of his things in a storage unit.

And, self-diagnosed with Asperger's.

[Christian] Both of my exes said,

"Yeah, you know what, you fit the, uh, criteria."

[Lisa] For? [Christian] Asperger's.

[Lisa] Oh, for Asperger's.

Angel was a marine veteran and who was sleeping on

a friend's couch when I picked him up in San Diego.

And, also was dealing with some pretty big issues.

[Angel] I do have PTSD.

I have anger issues.

You are speaking out of turn.

[Lisa] Josh Streeter is an army vet and seemed to be the most

together out of everyone, but it wasn't

all picket fences for him either.

[Josh] I grew up without my father

since I was eight or nine when my parents divorced.

[Lisa] And, Josh wasn't the only one.

[Christian] My father and I have been estranged for 26 years.

[Angel] I haven't seen my dad in 24 years.

[Chris] I stopped talking to my dad right after I

moved to Hollywood.

He didn't like it.

[Lisa] We were like the Bad News Bears

of helping anyone do anything.

And that's not all.

Let's just add one more crazy element.

Gabe decides that he is going to bring his

nephew, Abeer's son, on the trip with us.

He had just come out of rehab for heroin.

To say that Christopher had a troubled life would be an

understatement.

Tell me about your father.

[Christopher] He's a... coke addict.

Growing up with a coke head is a little strange

because, you know, he's got his ups and downs.

First, he's all mad then he's all happy

and so I always got my ass whooped, always.

With a belt, with his fists. Pretty much anything he could

get his hands on, he used.

He almost killed my mom, three times.

I don't blame him for my drug use, those were my choices.

It wasn't just heroin, it was crystal, acid, pills,

you name it, I did it.

[Lisa] How hard is it for you to stay clean?

[Christopher] Oh. [chuckles]

[Lisa] When was the last time you used something hard?

[Christopher] Last time I used something hard was...

last night.

[Lisa] What'd you use? [Christopher] I did coke.

[Lisa] You did coke last night, and nobody knows?

[Christopher] No.

I mean, it's going to be brutal and I need

that one support, that one person, my blood.

I need that.

He's the closest uncle I got.

I love him with everything.

He understands me more than anyone.

I am a gang member.

I've been out of jail for two years.

I got one more year probation.

[Gabriel] My nephew is going down a path that is

much worse than mine.

If I do not bring him on this trip, he will end

up dead or in jail.

[Abeer] I know my brother wants the best for Chris,

and I think this trip will bring them a lot closer together.

[Christopher] I'm not happy where I'm at.

What I want to see change from me is I wanna be able to drive,

get my license, get a job, have a family, you know, and have a

normal life.

[Gabriel] First person to roll the first two miles with me,

right off the Santa Monica Pier, was Lisa's friend, Jerry Katell,

who just came out of open heart surgery three weeks prior.

[Lisa] He wasn't allowed to even get

on his bike, but he came for two miles anyway.

[Jerry] I never asked the doctor.

I wasn't going to ask 'cause they might have said, "No."

There's no way I was not gonna go.

[Lisa] He promised Gabe that, if Gabe made it to New York,

that he would come and be there with them on the last roll.

Gabriel] At the end of our first day, we ended up at the YMCA.

Anytime I felt vulnerable to fall back into the drugs,

I got into my car and I drove to the Y.

[applause]

[Gabriel] When I got into my accident, I knew

that there was a reason for me being in a wheelchair.

It took me 20 years to find out why.

And today is the first day of my new life.

I don't know what's gonna happen and I don't know

if I'm gonna make it or if I'm not gonna make it,

but I promise you one thing, I will give every ounce of energy,

every ounce of my will to see this through.

I want to make all of you proud, and God willing,

see you when I get back.

[applause]

[Male Speaker] We're already proud, Gabe.

Let's see those guns.

[playing in background "Rolling Home"

from the "Roll With Me" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

[Gabriel] If only my parents knew,

I played the greatest role of my life when I lived with them.

No one ever knew the drugs I was on, no one ever knew my

lifestyle.

Right here was one of my stops when I was in my drug use.

Picking up drugs here almost every day, almost

every day for years.

I'm rolling away from them.

I'm rolling away from all this shit.

[playing in background "Rolling Home" from

the "Roll With Me" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

[Gabriel] In the 1980s, there were

three guys who rolled across America.

They used modified chairs, meaning bigger tires, longer

frames with

Steering, and at times parachutes to reduce their

downhill speed.

I didn't want to use a modified chair.

I wanted to use my everyday regular standard wheelchair.

[playing in background "Rolling Home" from

the "Roll With Me" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

[Gabriel] So that when people see me, I want them

to see themselves.

[Lisa] Hello, Pasadena.

Say hi, Gabe. [Gabriel] Hi.

[Gabriel] I'm just a regular guy

trying to do something extraordinary.

Only eight months sober.

[music continues]

[Karimeh] Hello.

[Gabriel] Hey, Mom.

[Karimeh] Where are you?

[Gabriel] Um, Claremont.

About 37 miles in Burbank.

[Karimeh] Ah, okay, habibi.

[Gabriel] Yeah.

[Karimeh] Okay.

[Gabriel] Good. All right. Okay. I love you, mom.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Karimeh] I love you too, habibi, please call me.

[Gabriel] Of course.

[Karimeh] Okay.

[Gabriel] Okay, mom.

[Karimeh] Okay, bye.

[Gabriel] Bye.

[Karimeh] Bye.

[Lisa] It's day 6. This is the Box Canyon Road.

We're gonna go on the 10 for 15 and a half miles, which is

totally illegal.

It's been a crazy last couple days.

The RV broke down.

[Joshua] Doing the adventure, baby.

[crosstalk] Frikkin' flat tire doing about

65 miles an hour on Highway 10 East.

This thing ain't worth nine grand, dude.

[Mechanic] It don't look like it had

a lot of rubber left on it to begin with.

[Joshua] Uh-uh.

That is just gone.

This is just terrible.

[Lisa] The water pump broke.

[Mechanic] Turn on your water pump switch.

[Joshua] Yes. Okay.

[Lisa] We've done 40, 43, 40 miles every day.

[Gabriel] Day 3.

Got two more miles before our first break and we're rocking

and rolling.

[Lisa] How are the hills?

[Gabriel] Wonderful! [Lisa] Aren't they lovely?

[Gabriel] Yeah, they look lovely. They feel lovely.

[Lisa] Look at that terrain. It sucks.

[Gabriel] No free rides today, baby.

[Lisa] How are your shoulders feeling?

[Gabriel] My shoulders are feeling good.

I'm holding up pretty good, you know?

Today, we are going to go through the canyons of Mecca

and it's gonna get really interesting later on in the

afternoon.

[Lisa] How you're doing today?

[Chris] Good morning. This is Chris Yanke.

Everything is fabulous.

I'm looking forward to another exciting day of driving,

Sweating, and making sure you guys stay hydrated.

[background music]

[Lisa] He's gotta go to the bathroom, you guys.

[Gabriel] You're taking me in the chair.

[Lisa] Is he right?

[Gabriel] You're not picking me up.

In the chair.

When I go to the bathroom, it's a process for me.

It's not just, "Let me go sit on the toilet." I have to balance

myself.

I have to use manual excretion,

and, um, it's just tough, you know.

I'm not sitting on the toilet. I'm sitting in my chair.

And it's going to go back as far as it can.

And that's fine.

You're just gonna put a bucket underneath me.

[Josh] When he has to empty his stomach, as he says,

I had no idea what people in his condition

have to go through just to go to the bathroom.

[Christian] Carrying him in? [Gabriel] No.

Because if he carries me in, it's coming out.

And I don't want to crap all over me.

If you want to take isolated situation

of a person being in a wheelchair, it sucks.

It's difficult.

I have to look at things in the big picture.

I got my arms, I got my upper body, I got my family and my

friends.

[Lisa] Even though he can't

feel his legs, they start to shake and,

uh, they actually will just go straight out

and start to contract and spasm.

Look at-- There, it goes.

It's pointing on its own.

I'm not doing it.

It's just doing it.

It does it by itself.

So, the whole goal is to get this so it's just relaxing.

It's really dangerous if you don't stretch somebody who

is a paraplegic who's doing this kind of exertion.

His leg is hanging there, but it just all of a

sudden will pop up.

It can go underneath the chair.

He could break his leg, break his foot,

go flying out of the chair, game over.

[Gabriel] We had a decision to make.

Do we roll an extra 50 miles through the Coachella Valley

or do we hop on the I-10 for 15 miles illegally?

It was a no-brainer for me. I'm choosing 15 miles

and illegally.

[Chris] Now we are officially on the freeway.

[Lisa] This is crazy. We are insane for doing this.

[Police Officer] Please be clear

on the California vehicle code, all right?

[Gabriel] Absolutely.

[Officer] You can't be on the freeway.

[Gabriel] No. I won't, no.

[Officer] People were like, "There's a man in a wheelchair

on the freeway."

[Chris] [laughs]

[Officer] Okay?

Be careful with that, alright?

Please don't put me on YouTube.

[Gabriel] There he goes.

How many miles?

[Lisa] Uh, we are at almost 11.

So, we have four more.

[Gabriel] Let's go.

[Man driving by] You're awesome.

[Chris] That's pretty cool.

I never thought we'd made it.

[Chris] Outside of LA, there's a lot of goodhearted people.

I've gotten chocked up a few times because the kindness of

people here,

and I haven't felt like that in a long time.

And when I see that, It makes me feel good, you know,

that people actually care, and are supporting us.

It's beautiful out here.

You know, last night what I saw was just stars up in the sky.

You know, I haven't seen anything like that before.

And I've never been this far from LA.

This is something. This is something.

[Lisa] How's your body feeling since you haven't been using?

[Chris] [sighs] This is The longest I've been sober.

[Lisa] Yeah.

[Chris] But I'm trying to push myself like my uncle.

[Lisa] When you see him working hard, how do you feel?

[Chris] It hurts.

I don't like seeing him is in pain, and I try and just,

like, suck it up.

I don't want to turn away, but I turn away so I don't show

weakness.

[Gabriel] Today's the toughest day so far.

Crosswind mixed with uphill for 30 miles makes for a long day.

I got to do two miles with my nephew, and it's good.

[Lisa] Chris, are you okay?

Why are you anxious?

You were fine a minute ago. What happened?

[Chris] My breathing.

I got... I got bad breathing problems.

[Lisa] I know, but where'd the anxiety come from?

'Cause you had no anxiety a minute ago.

[Chris] I known, they come on and off. When I was--

I get these random anxiety things that just hit me.

[Gabriel] Maybe the fact that you haven't

done anything, your body's going through some changes.

Okay, that's a good possibility, but you have

to breathe through it.

You have to breathe through it, okay?

[Chris] Yeah.

[Gabriel] [kiss] I love you very much, you know?

Don't worry about it. It's all gonna be good, okay?

Just breathe, okay?

He always says, "I feel like I'm gonna die young."

This is overwhelming for him,

and the fact that he was smoking weed and doing all that 'til

the day we left, and he's been doing it for years, and now it's

just cold

turkey, he just stopped, and I think he's just going through

withdrawals.

I just worry about him.

Hello.

[Lisa] He's a really bad singer, by the way.

[Gabriel] I'm-- No, I'm not bad.

I'm terrible.

But no one hears me but you, and I don't care.

[Chris] I couldn't come up with shit like this and stoned, man.

This is funny.

[Lisa] Uh, so windy. So windy.

[Gabriel] So, this is the California-Arizona state line.

One state down, 12 to go.

[Lisa] More press.

How cool is that, dude?

When all the local press came, it was awesome.

They really shined a light on what we were up to.

That let people know that we were out on the road,

and then they would come and meet up with us.

All kinds of people.

[Gabriel] Well, the overall goal is to inspire

people, to inspire them to the best they can be.

[Gabriel] We got stopped at midnight, we got stopped

at 6:00 in the morning, we got stopped at 3:00 in the

afternoon.

When people knew our story, they stopped.

[Lisa] And it didn't matter if they only had

an apple or a soda or a dollar, they would give it to us.

Oh, Thank you.

[Male Speaker] You know what?

To see you guys, especially yourself, you know what it does

to me?

It, it gives me motivation.

[Male Speaker] Put those on.

Those are rigging impact gloves. [Gabriel] Wow.

[Male Speaker] Those are $60 a pair.

[Female Speaker] So my thyroid stopped

working, and I gained about 120 pounds last year.

[Gabriel] Ah.

Fe[Male Speaker] If you can do this, then I can lose weight.

[Gabriel] Of course you can.

You can do something special with your lives

to affect people, like how you guys are affecting me.

You guys are affecting my dream, and I just

wanna let you guys know that I will remember

this moment for the rest of my life,

and you guys will carry me all the way to New York.

[crowd] Go Gabe, Go Gabe, Go Gabe, Go Gabe, Go Gabe, Go Gabe.

[vehicle horn]

[Gabriel] Right now, I'm just focusing on getting to Superior.

Nothing beyond that, until I get there.

My brain works in legs, that's the only way I can deal with

this.

I can't think about the big picture.

It's too overwhelming.

[Lisa] How do you think the heat is affecting you?

[Gabriel] Oh.

It's wearing me out.

I can't really sleep on my sides anymore

because it just hurts my shoulders to sleep on my sides.

[background music]

[Gabriel] For me, when I talk about

the bottom, I've realized that there are

many bottoms, and when I thought I hit a bottom,

I surprised myself to hit a lower bottom.

Then, I realized that, at the end of the day,

Complete bottom would be death.

And I was so close to it so many times.

Superior was a metaphor.

Being at the bottom of that mountain,

and then climbing my way up to the top...

[gasping]

[Lisa] What's going on?

Is your hand numb?

[Gabriel] Uh-hmm.

[Lisa] Want to stretch them?

[vehicle passing by]

[Gabriel struggling and gasping]

[Gabriel] I'm just so blessed to be able to do this.

Nine months ago, I couldn't inspire one person.

Not even myself.

[crying] Now I'm inspiring strangers.

[Gabriel] Climbing my way up to the top,

but struggle, that I got there.

It's hard for me to use the word "I"

because this is a "we." This journey is

about us, collectively, as a family, but

that moment was my moment of triumph.

[Chris] The little things that we have to

deal with on a daily basis, it is very frustrating.

We have very manic personalities.

[Lisa] Chris Yanke, you're not helping me.

You need to go faster.

[Chris] We have to deal

constantly with the stress and pressure of changing roads

and conditions, the uncertainty of the drivers behind us.

[vehicles passing by]

[Lisa] I'm coming. I'm moving.

[Chris] And also moods change

with the patterns of the winds ahead of us.

[Joshua] How was your roll?

[Chris] Then I got somebody

else who insists on being in my space.

So, I have a place to sleep, but then he puts his bed

right in front of my bed where I can't get to it,

then complains that I smell and that I snore, and he

stinks and farts up the whole place all night long.

Number one, I don't want to hear about it.

We already know there's six of us crammed in a fucking

shit-can.

[Josh] This is where Chris Yanke sleeps.

Where everybody sits.

So, what does he say?

He says he can smell every one of us on that couch?

[laughs]

[Chris] We got one coming up behind us, over.

You have to be very forgiving, and I do forgive everybody.

Really, I do, but frankly, it's fucking annoying.

[Lisa] This was our typical day.

Get up, go inside, check on Gabe.

[Gabriel] I get carried out of the RV every morning.

I'd eat my breakfast.

[Lisa] If we were starting from where

we were, Gabe would just push out on the chair.

But sometimes we'd have to load the wheelchair into

the back of the car because what would happen is we'd

end somewhere, I'd drop the pin on my phone, we'd

make a mark there, and then return to this place.

The RV would go ahead of us 20 miles or 50 miles depending on

the day.

Angel would start preparing the food.

Christian would already be calling ahead for the next day

to see where

an RV park was gonna be, if there was press we were supposed

to meet.

Chris Kawas and Yanke, they'd go up two to five miles ahead of us

and they would let us know what the terrain was gonna be like.

If it was gonna be a nutty, crazy drive with really

small shoulder, they would drive behind Gabe and me.

[Gabriel] I have to stop about

five times a day to empty my bladder.

I have to use a catheter which is inside a bag.

Takes about two, three minutes and that's it.

[Lisa] And we always forgot something.

"Oh, I forgot the water." "Oh, I forgot

the walkie-talkie." "Oh, I didn't

make the sandwiches." We just never had

one day when we did everything right.

[Gabriel] I can't even get a sandwich.

All I got is cashews.

That's it.

Every day there was some kind of argument, disagreement.

It was always something.

[Angel] My mother would say, "You ungrateful

son of a bitch." She'd say, "Put on a shirt."

[Christian] In the kitchen?

[Gabriel] We roll all day.

They carry me inside.

We eat.

[Angel] Chili, bro.

[Gabriel] Holy shit. [laughter]

[Angel] I just gave Gabe delicious serrano chili.

[Gabriel] Dude, my freakin' tongue is on fire.

You go to bed, you wake up the next morning and start all over

again.

[Lisa] Every time we met new people and they said they were

inspired or they told us their story, that's what fueled the

journey.

That's what kept us going. That's what kept Gabe going.

They inspired him.

[Gabriel] How you're doing, buddy?

[Boy] Hi, Gabe.

[Gabriel] What's your name? [Boy] Uh, Gogo.

[Male Speaker] Gogo.

[Gabriel] Gogo's your name?

[Male Speaker] Gogo has autism.

[Gabriel] He does have autism?

[Male Speaker] Yo, Gabe, nobody has signed this cast.

[Gabriel] Do I put my name on here?

[Male Speaker] Right there.

[Gabriel] Okay.

[Male Speaker] Go, go, go.

[Gabriel] Good luck.

[Male Speaker] Okay.

Good luck to you, man.

I'm gonna root for you.

[Gabriel] Thank you.

[Male Speaker] We're glad we met you.

We can inspire you for a mile at least, okay?

One of those miles can be one of ours.

[Boy] Oh, yeah. [Gabriel] Absolutely.

Absolutely.

We don't take this lightly.

We don't forget this.

[Male Speaker] That's why I'm here.

That's why I'm here.

[Gabriel] This is gonna be our first

mile into New Mexico and it's exciting.

Arizona was incredible.

I feel great.

I'm getting stronger every day and, uh,

you know, just plowing, just another day.

[train horn]

[Lisa] We're back on the 10 freeway.

This time it's legal.

[Derek] How you guys doing?

[Chris] Pretty good. How you're doing?

[Derek] Where are you guys heading?

[Chris] New York.

[Derek] New York.

Excellent.

What are the names of the folks up here?

[Chris] That's Gabe and that's Lisa.

[Derek] Gabe and Lisa.

[Guys in the car] What's your name?

[Derek] Derek.

[Guys in the car] Hey, Derek.

[Derek] How you guys doing?

[Lisa] Hey, man.

[Derek] I was riding my bicycle east to Lafollette, Tennessee,

to go visit with some family and then I came upon your guys' car.

I looked forward and then I saw you on the bicycle and Gabriel

in the wheelchair and I just thought, "You got to be

kidding."

[Lisa] Out of nowhere Derek Gibbs rolls up.

Gabe loved him instantly.

Gabe and I discussed it, and then I said,

"Hey, would you like to stay with us?

I know you're going on your own journey, but

would you like to deviate?" And he said, "Sure."

[Derek] I want to meet some inspiring people

along the way, and so pulled forward and that was that.

[Lisa] He's going to meet us for dinner.

But he's going ahead so he can get a jump.

[Angel] Cool. I'll let him do the dishes. Over.

[Lisa] Day 24 was a tough day.

Gabe hurt his shoulder really, really badly.

[Gabriel] [painful moans]

Ice.

[Lisa] He hurt it so badly that he actually broke down crying.

[Gabriel] Not crying from the pain so much

as from the frustration of, "Is this going to be it?"

[screams]

"Is the journey going to be over?

Did I just lose my independence?"

[wind blowing hard]

[Gabriel] Let's go.

[Lisa] Gabe stopped four times on that day.

Dealing with the excruciating pain in his shoulder, but he

said very

clearly, "I will not stop rolling until I cannot roll

anymore."

[Gabriel] The pain just came suddenly.

[painful moans]

[Chris] Holy cow.

[Gabriel] And it was a pain like somebody

taking a knife and just sticking it in your shoulder.

[Lisa] Should we call it a day?

[Gabriel] Agh, no.

Just let me ice it and numb it for a little bit.

[Lisa] That night he had a big conversation

with Chris about the gang that he's in.

[Gabriel] When you go back to L.A., are you gonna

start going back and hanging out with these people?

[Chris] Mm, no, not really. Depends.

[Gabriel] Depends on what, Chris?

[Chris] On... 'cause most of them I've known my whole life.

[Gabriel] You shouldn't want nothing

to do with them because, you know what?

If you're still gonna want something to do with them, then

You might as well just go

home now, because you're gonna get back into

the same cycle, and don't tell me "No."

[Chris] They are not all bad people.

[Gabriel] Okay, no, I didn't say that, but what

they-- But what they do, what they represent, is bad.

They don't represent good, because you just

said that nothing good comes out of it.

You either go to jail or you die.

[Chris] Yeah, nothing good comes out of gang-banging. Nothing.

[Lisa] Gabe told Chris that he was going to wash his

hands of him if he continued to be part of the gang that he's

in.

[Chris] I'm not going back the same.

[Gabriel] Well, you know what? I don't know.

The moment you get back to California,

are you gonna fall back into it?

That's what I'm worried about.

I brought you here to save your fucking life, Chris.

[Lisa] We stayed at an RV park that night.

Christopher told Angel that he was gonna go eat dinner

with some woman he had met there and he never came back.

Gabe said, "That's it.

I'm done." We took the next day off to rest Gabe's shoulder,

but the morning started off with Christopher coming back.

[Gabriel] I texted him, and I said, "Get your ass over

here because, uh, we are dropping you off at the bus

station."

[Chris] You say you don't wanna be part of my life, yada-yada.

What do you expect me to do?

Take that lightly? No.

[Gabriel] And he proceeded to

tell me that when he heard me say that,

"I wash my hands with you," that it hurt him

right here, and he pointed to his heart.

I care for your wellbeing more than I care for mine.

I would trade my life for you to be happy and to be good.

I don't know if I trust that you didn't do anything last night.

You say you didn't.

[Chris] You can drug test me if you want.

[Gabriel] No.

I'm not gonna sit there and drug test you, okay?

And I believe that you didn't, because I know

when you're lying and when you're not lying.

You gotta understand that this opportunity,

you have to learn from it, you have to grow from it.

You can't just get mad and just walk away.

You are responsible to all these people, not just me.

You keep saying, "I'm sick and tired of people treating me

like a kid." Do you do anything to be treated like an adult?

You owe everyone an apology.

[Chris] I'm sorry.

I can see why everybody got upset and I

don't blame them, so we talked it out.

I apologized to everybody for leaving and not telling anyone

where I was.

[Gabriel] I was his rehab general and I needed to

approach it in a hard-nosed way, and even though the crew

sometimes thought I was being hard on him, I know my nephew

and I know what it takes for him to respond to something.

[Joshua] I didn't want to see him go.

We all don't need this.

Gabe needs it in his own way to finish, but Chris needs this

to see what a family without drugs and violence is like.

[Chris] Ah, dude.

I'm glad you came back.

I think as a young man, he doesn't realize how far along he

is, and that's what I try to make him realize, that it's not

the circumstance of your environment, because your

environment

can change, the only thing that can or can't is you.

[Christopher] I got a lot of anger

and that's why I got into what I'm into right now.

The only people I have are my friends.

My homies, my gang, they are my family.

I don't want nothing to do with anyone after all the bullshit.

Like, I don't want to deal with you.

I don't want to deal with anyone because

I don't want to deal with the pain of losing a family.

I saw what I put my mom through, I stole money

from everyone for drugs, I've deceived everybody.

What I've done is just reflections of my father.

I'm not destined to be like him.

I won't ever be like him.

My uncle and I were talking about my dad and I said I'm

gonna bury

him, I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do

that.

He was telling me, don't have hatred

towards people and, you know, you got to forgive him.

Not for him, but for yourself, so you don't have that burden.

Yeah, I just wanted to say - get everything off my chest -

and say that I forgive you for everything

that you've done, and I know, I know

it wasn't your fault, because it's the drugs.

I know that.

[Gabriel] You talked to him? You talked to him?

You did? Okay. And then?

[Christopher] I told him,

"I forgive you, but, you know, the shit you've done,

and I know it's because of the drugs." And I told

him, "You know, I just want you to get better.

You know?

If I can do it, I went to rehab, got out, did drugs

again, four weeks sober now, you could too."

[Gabriel] And?

How do you feel?

[Christopher] I don't even know how I feel right now.

[Gabriel] Come here.

Come here, buddy.

Oh, my God.

Mmm, I'm so proud of you.

[Joshua] Anything to drive you to call you father

after what I've heard they've gone through, it takes balls.

[Gabriel] I'm so proud of you.

That is huge.

[Chris] And he did that all

on his own, and I was really impressed.

[Gabriel] Today, by far, is the greatest day since we've left.

[Angel] I haven't forgiven my dad yet.

So, I guess, what I'm doing right now is I'm learning from a

21-year-old.

[Gabriel] Let's go do some rolling now.

Yes. Nice.

That was his first steps as a man,

and he was incredible.

At least half of the rolling in New Mexico was against the wind

and up.

There was always up, up, up, up, up, up.

Going downhill was great, especially if it was a long,

steady decline.

But in New Mexico, I was pushing as hard as I can

downhill, that's how strong the headwinds are.

Oh, you have no idea how much my body hurts right now.

I've called my parents every day, because,

God bless them, they were worried sick.

"How are your shoulders?

How are you doing?" Those are the first two things that they

ask me.

I'm a believer in miracles and I tell you, after those

debilitating

couple of days, the next day I woke up and I could roll.

I mean, I'm in pain every day, but it wasn't like the pain I've

felt.

And to me, that's a miracle.

I can't tell you how or why, but we have a lot of people praying

for us.

[Male Voice] I'm thankful someone's

doing the awareness for people with disabilities.

I just had to be here with him.

[Female Voice] All right, welcome.

[Gabriel] Thank you.

[crowd cheering]

[Gabriel] The thousand mile mark feels like a

grand accomplishment.

[male voice] Here's to 1,000 miles.

[crowd cheering]

[Gabriel] Probably the most memorable moment is

this kid named Marco.

[Marco] You're good.

[Gabriel] Thank you.

Thank you for coming.

All right, I wanna give you-- I wanna give you a hug.

[Marco] Thank you.

[female voice] I got it.

[Marco] Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Gabriel] He had cerebral palsy.

It was hard to understand what he was saying, but

the more emotional he got, the clearer he was to me.

It was incredible.

[Marco] Thank you.

Yeah.

[Gabriel] You inspire me, buddy.

You inspire me.

All right?

Thank you.

Heavenly Father, we just thank you for

allowing Gabe to reach this milestone.

Watch over him and keep him safe.

[male voice] My wife said, "Let's stop and give him

some money."

[laughs] [Lisa] Oh, thank you.

Every time people do that, we get to eat lunch.

[Gabriel] I need to stretch.

All right.

The most frustrating part of this trip...

Oh, that was brutal.

Is easily, hands down... The wind and the rain and the cold.

I'm soaked.

Without a question... Dealing with the personalities.

[Chris] Joshua? [Joshua] What's up?

[Angel] You didn't fart on my pillow, did you?

[Joshua] No, dude. What?

[Angel] Because it smells like fart and I'm disgusted by it.

[Joshua] What the hell kind of question is that?

[Gabriel] Seven people in a one-bedroom apartment.

There's going to be some clashing.

I get it.

Listen to your logic. No one is here, but make everything clear,

so when you come back, everything should be nice.

You're out, seven, eight hours in the car.

So, I'm gonna tell Lisa, "Chris is

bitching 'cause you're putting your

shit on the bed."

She sleeps in her fucking car every fucking

day, in her car.

Did she bitch about where she sleeps?

But then little miss prissy, "It's frustrating."

[Christopher] It's frustrating. Do I care? No, but it's

frustrating...

[Gabriel] Well, obviously, you care.

[Christopher]... Whoop dee fucking doo.

[Gabriel] Are we a bunch of fucking children or fucking

bunch of adults, man?

It's so frustrating, I can't even come up with a really

simple word.

It's it's just [sigh]

[Derek] He's carried a lot aside from just his body.

The level at which he feels the pain of the group personally, I

think, is

a very moving thing, and he's definitely

become the father of the group.

[Gabriel] I'm at the point where it's affecting me

because this is my family, whether they like it or not.

It affects my sleeping, it affects my eating, it affects my

performance.

[Gabriel] We are in Texas, baby.

[Chris] Woo, Texas.

Even though we wanted to kill each other at times, no one

wavered.

Everyone had a goal, which was to make it to New York,

and no one wanted to fall short of that.

Oklahoma, baby.

[Emergency broadcast weather warning sound]

[Chris] We have lightning striking in every

direction. There's much anger in this clouds. Oh, yeah.

[Radio Host] This is a Tornado warning for

Central Oklahoma County, central Oklahoma, take cover now in

a storm shelter or an interior room of a sturdy building.

Stay away from doors and windows.

[siren]

[Chris] That's an eerie-ass siren, that's for sure.

[Radio Host] Funnel shaped tornado heading towards Carney,

perhaps as far south as Chandler, over toward Agra.

That's the path that it's taking through Lincoln County right

now.

It is, uh, at least an F4 tornado.

It looks to be right out a mile wide right now.

This is the kind of tornado that wipes things clean.

[Joshua] Jesus, dude. [Gabriel] Look at

that van over there.

We just drove through Carney.

It's overwhelming to see the destruction.

We wanted to see if there's any way we can volunteer

to help with debris and all the stuff like that.

[Man In Truck] We won't do much today due to the rain.

[Gabriel] Just 'cause of the rain?

Oh, but tomorrow, you guys are gonna be here, it's gonna be a

good day?

All right, we'll try to stop by tomorrow.

And, uh, is your... Is everybody okay?

[Man In Truck] Everybody's fine. [Gabriel] Everybody's fine?

Okay, man.

[Eryn] This was my mom and my grandma's house.

Here's the door.

I pulled it on top of us...

I heard the sirens going, and we were praying.

[Greg] Uh, a girl that I grew up down

the street from,

I haven't seen her in 30 years, and she called me

this morning, said, "What can we do for you,

because we wanna be

able to directly help you in whatever way we can,

whether it be clothing..." I mean,

just people in New Jersey that don't even know us.

It's human nature to wanna help.

[Eryn] My family is alive. Praise God, He had a purpose.

God had a purpose.

[Gabriel] For the last month and a half, people were

helping us every day.

And now, it was our chance to finally give back.

It was an incredible experience as a team.

It really united us.

[Lisa] What does it mean to be sober?

[Joshua] No foreign chemicals,

any chemicals that your body does not produce.

Full 100% sobriety in this day and age

is probably a very rare thing to find.

If you want to take in prescription drugs,

coffee, cigarettes... Perhaps I shouldn't

have brought it, but I was told that

Gabe doesn't have a problem with weed.

[Gabriel] The discussion was before we

left that Christopher will not be able to smoke any

weed on the trip, and in return, if you want me not

to do it as a support, I will do that for you.

But, I had fell back on it.

[Angel] Kawas said, "My uncle is a hypocrite

because he's freaking doing this and he doesn't want me to do

this."

[Christopher] You say we can't smoke on this trip.

[Gabriel] I said-- [Christopher] I had marijuana,

and I gave it away...

[Gabriel] Okay. [Christopher] ...'cause you

said we can't smoke.

That's when I made a promise, all right, fine, no smoking, I

won't smoke.

[Gabriel] Okay.

[Christopher] The whole weed smoking thing, it bugged me,

'cause there was supposed

to be no smoking weed on this trip,

and then he goes and changes his mind.

[Gabriel] Did I know what the hell I have to go through?

Did I know this?

I just want you to take into consideration the circumstances.

[Derek] On the medicinal side, I totally see where he's

coming from, and it seems absolutely warranted, and I

don't knock him.

[Joshua] So he can sleep, so he

can relax, so he can... Just not think.

[Derek] But, when you compare that

to setting an example for his nephew and all of that, that's

when you start to have an issue, and it becomes, "Dude,

you know, this is actually a really good point to argue.

So, did you slip up?"

[Christopher] I know he's going through

a lot that we don't know, but that's no excuse.

[Gabriel] If that upsets you that much, I will not.

[Christopher] I don't want to do that.

You want to relax after a stressful day-

[Gabriel] Okay. [Christopher] -and I

understand that.

[Gabriel] I could understand why he thought I was

being hypocritical.

That's my fault 100%, and he has every right to feel that way.

I felt I let him down, because for me, my word is everything.

Every part of my body that I can feel, hurt me.

I have a medicinal marijuana license, and for me, that's a

better

way to handle my situation than Ibuprofen or heavier stuff.

It was a conscious choice that I'm not gonna take a hit

to get high, I'm taking a hit so I can calm my body down.

And when I did it, it made all the difference in the world.

[Angel] Was I okay with it, personally?

No, I wasn't.

I'm very white and black about things.

I don't do drugs at all.

That lifestyle for me is not okay.

[Gabriel] Addiction to me was the lifestyle I was living.

The drugs, the gambling, and I'm no longer living that lifestyle.

[Chris] I believe the penalties

that he feels about himself are his to bear.

[Gabriel] Woohoo, 2,000 miles! [Chris] 2,000 miles.

[Gabriel] I just went flying off my chair because of that.

Look at that.

Literally, we must have been going 3 miles

an hour and I just literally went-- [chuckles]

I'm not hurt or anything, I mean, my knees are fu-- Ugh!

Today was the first time that I lost control.

I'm telling you, if there was a car there, I would have hit the

car.

[Lisa] He was exhausted from the minute he got up today.

[Joshua] Yeah.

[Gabriel] Yeah, I just-- Tossing and turning all night.

I was just in pain all night.

[Christian] We knew this wasn't gonna be easy.

We knew it was going to be dangerous.

[Gabriel] Yeah.

So, finally, it took me almost getting killed

to finally say it's enough for the day. [sigh]

[Lisa] You guys, cheers. 2,000 miles.

[Joshua] 2,000 miles.

[Chris] Yes, at the pace of sleep.

[Christian] Too late to quit now.

[Lisa] Cheers, cheers, cheers.

[Joshua] Absolutely awesome.

[applause]

[Gabriel] I want to give hope by example, not by just words.

[man] I really appreciate what you're doing.

[Gabriel] Thank you so much.

That's freaking awesome.

Missouri and Illinois.

My left hand is in Missouri, my right hand is in Illinois.

I'm in the state of confusion.

This is the actual building that Lincoln walked into.

This is... Wow.

It's all mental. Does my body hurt?

Do my arms, my shoulders sometimes wanna fall off?

Absolutely, but can I live up to the idea that I have of myself?

Another state down, baby.

[Joshua] Woohoo, all right.

[Gabriel] We are officially in Indiana.

Up.

Yeah, you guys can't talk to me when I roll downhill.

[Chris] I was trying to tell him about the trucks.

[Derek] We'll have to clean him up.

Well, some scraping down in here, just a little bit.

[Gabriel] Too bad we didn't get any of that on camera.

[Derek] Son of a bitch.

[Gabriel] How did it look from the car?

[Derek] Uh, pretty awesome, dude.

[laughs] Oh, man.

If we had a roll cage, you would have gotten a couple tumbles on

that one.

[Chris] All right, first aid kit.

[Lisa] We weren't even in Pennsylvania yet and Gabe

was very, very tired.

We were starting to get worried because a fall like this one

in the Appalachian Mountains could literally be fatal.

To lift Gabe's spirits and to give us all a little break,

Christian surprised Gabe with something amazing.

[Gabriel] I am an avid race fan,

and to have the opportunity to go to the most

hallowed ground in all of motorsports was

a highlight of my life, let alone the trip.

[Tom] Gabe, Tom from IMS. [Gabriel] Gabriel Cordell.

Nice to meet you, it is absolute-- Oh, you have no idea.

I'm like a kid in a candy store right now.

[Tom] I heard this was a surprise that you were

gonna be here.

They didn't tell you until today?

[Gabriel] No, no one told me.

[Tom] This is Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was built in 1909 as a test track.

They put 3.2 million bricks into the facility to have a stable

surface.

[Gabriel] Victory circle.

This is where it all begins and ends, right here.

[Tom] In 1961, they finished paving

the main straightaway except for one yard known as the famous

Yard of Bricks, and that, of course,

is the start and finish line of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[Gabriel] I'm going to go take my lap.

[Christian] Woo.

Officially the slowest lap ever completed.

[Gabriel] Everybody kiss the bricks.

One two three. Mwah.

[cheering]

[Gabriel] Kiss the bricks, baby.

You know it.

Wow.

Ohio.

Four more states to go.

[Lisa] How far are we from New York?

[Gabriel] Little more than 600 miles.

Yeah, it's like, it's like...

[Lisa] Can you feel it?

[Gabriel] Once we get to Pennsylvania,

you know, to me, that'll be the final stretch.

We're in West Virginia! Yeah!

[Pastor] This is a very powerful day.

Gabe, I want you to come front and center

and just say what's on your heart, my brother.

[Gabriel] We rolled 2,600 miles.

Every single inch of every mile was pushed with these hands.

The human will is limitless, and I'm a testament to it

because I'm no more special than any person here.

We are all gifted in our own ways, and I can tell you

without a shadow of a doubt that the people in this

country are loving, they're supportive, and they want

to be part of something that is bigger than them.

It's bigger than me, I am just the vehicle.

We stopped and asked a gentleman how far till Pennsylvania,

and he said, "You're in Pennsylvania." We're in

Pennsylvania.

This is gonna be tough, going over the Appalachian Mountains.

I have been humbled, My crew has been humbled.

It's been a true blessing and I will never, ever be the same,

ever.

I know that having God in my life, He will give me the

strength to do it.

But can I physically do it?

That was so hard.

[Chris] I still just goes on.

[Christopher] Hey, are you all right?

[Gabriel] My shoulders are in pain.

[Christopher] Out of everyone I know, even my mom,

he's on the top of my list for the most respected

person I've ever known, by far.

That hill- 2.8 miles?

[Gabriel] 2.5. [Christopher] 2.5 miles.

[Gabriel] From today, we have eight days, 280 miles.

It's gonna be around the clock rolling.

At night, you can sleep a good five hours,

but the rest of the time I just need

you to bear with me, and then hopefully

let's make it to New York by Sunday.

It's crunch time.

So, I'm just-- [applauds] I'm just really proud of you guys.

You guys are fucking awesome.

It's the final leg.

I'm nervous because a lot can happen.

Just physically having to roll with these two arms, hoping that

you don't blow them out and then your independence is gone.

Stop.

[Angel] Pit stop for rain tires.

[Gabriel] What I do know, it'd be

pretty much impossible to stop me from trying.

Can I do it?

Like, do I have the will to do it?

All I have is will.

You take the weather, the humidity.

Just the bugs flying in your eyes and in your mouth, and

taking

these routes-- the legal routes that we're able to take.

There's nothing straight.

Every other state combined did not wear me out,

and take a toll on me physically, as Pennsylvania did.

We have 130 miles to the G. W. Bridge.

We have 155 miles to West Hempstead.

You know that cliché, so close, yet so far away.

I get it.

I get it now.

I really get it.

Not fun.

I have no more strength in my shoulders.

My body is saying, "Stop." By three o'clock we'll be in

Jersey. Yes we will.

[Lisa] [Chris] Yanke and I had pulled over,

and this guy comes over and he's like, "Hey, you can't park here.

This is for our camp." I said, "Well, we're just waiting for

our friend."

He's pushing his wheelchair across the United States

and we're almost finished, and he's like, "Holy crap.

Do you think he'd want to meet some kids?" I said, "Yeah, I'm

sure he'd

love to meet some kids." He's like, "Stay right here, don't go

anywhere."

[applause]

[cheering]

[background conversation]

[Gabriel] Hello, everyone.

What a surprise.

[female voice] Are you exhausted?

[Gabriel] I am exhausted.

[female voice] Do you want

something to drink or eat or anything?

School [Boy] Do you get to like sleep in between?

[Gabriel] Yes, very little.

It's really hard when you feel like you wanna quit, but that

is the most important time of growth and building character.

It's not easy, but when you get it done,

you're gonna be so proud of yourself.

[female voice] All right, everyone, back into camp.

Say goodbye to Gabriel. He's got some rolling to do.

[applause]

[cheering]

[Gabriel] Thank you so much.

That was so freakin' awesome.

[crosstalk]

[Lisa] Just in time.

[Gabriel] Just in time.

[Lisa] Gabe was absolute toast.

I think we only had about 50 or 60 miles to the New Jersey

border at that point, and it just gave him that jolt.

[female voice] Everybody, say goodbye.

We love you, Gabriel! You are our hero! Go, Gabriel!

We love you!

[Lisa] Woo! Jersey!

[Gabriel] New Jersey, baby!

One more state to go.

[Lisa] Do you feel like you could just pass out?

[Gabriel] Every moment. [Lisa] Do you?

[Gabriel] Yeah. I think a noodle right

right now is more firmer than me. A cooked

noodle...

[Lisa] Cooked noodle?

[Gabriel] ...is more firmer than me, because I'm just...

[Lisa] is more firm? [Gabriel] Yeah.

We must have gotten stopped by the police

just about every day, and they could

not be more supportive,

and really looked out for us in every way possible.

[Lisa] There they are.

[Joshua] Yeah, buddy.

[Angel] Oh my God, dude, that's awesome.

[Josh] Roll with me, baby.

[cheers, background conversation]

[Gabriel] Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Officer] It was a pleasure. Good luck with this.

[Angel] Officers, thank you so much.

[Gabriel] Thank you.

[Christopher] I'm fucking tired.

[Chris] Me, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm tired,

but I'm really determined, as you can see.

[Christopher] I'm determined

to get to my bed, eventually.

[Chris] Eventually?

Your ass better be crawling there soon.

[Gabriel] Jerry came, and as he promised,

he was there for the first two miles, then he was

there for the last roll. and then three of my best

friends from high school have all been supportive.

They wanted to come and roll with me.

We are at the Port authority on the New Jersey side, and we're

going to be escorted by the police to get over

the G. W. Bridge to hit our final destination.

When this journey first started, it was about me trying to make

history,

but soon after, it became about all of us.

A team of eight strangers, from all different walks of life.

[Joshua] What up?

[Lisa] How cool was that?

[Joshua] New York, baby!

[Gabriel] Uniting for one common purpose, to inspire others.

What we didn't expect was that we were the ones being inspired

daily

by the generosity and the spirit of the people we met along the

way.

If not for them and all they did for us,

we would not have been able to come this far.

They nurtured our bodies, our hearts and our souls,

and reminded us that we are part of a larger family.

[Chris] Gabe's message is in the miles.

It's about people doing whatever it took

to get up every day, to face an uncertain

environment, and whether they needed

the certainty of conflict to get through it.

They never let it get so unmanageable that

they stopped remembering why they did it.

[Angel] The extraordinary experience of a lifetime.

I know I'm capable of doing anything I want, but this trip

has given me the confidence to pretty much go for it.

[Derek] For me, a big part of this trip is that

you've got to put the work into changing your own behavior

in a way that you value things in your mindset and that

if you do that, you can change your life completely.

[Christian] He doesn't see himself as important,

but he's impacting other people, and he's making

them see that no limitation should ever be, as he says,

how you define your life and how you live your life.

[Joshua] I'm just all around going to

be a better, stronger person when I get home.

It's amazing to watch what this guy is doing, and it's

something that I'll, I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

[Lisa] There are so many times we look at things

and we think, "Oh, that's not possible," but when someone

does something that no one's ever done before, it opens

a door and it creates a path that did not exist before.

I thought it was kind of, "This is what I have to do, this is

all I know," and when we came back I thought, "You know what?

I can learn anything, I can do anything I want with my life."

[Christopher] Longest I've ever been

sober in my life, besides being a little kid.

You know, you open up your mind and your ears and your eyes

to a whole new experience, being sober than being high.

I already know I'm not going back to drugs, 'cause if I did,

this whole trip would have been a waste of time for me.

[friend] He just rolled from California - California to New

York, baby.

[applause]

[Lisa] He just rolled across the United States.

[male voice] I know, I saw it on the news.

You're awesome, man.

You're awesome.

[Gabriel] Thank you, sir.

[Lisa] Come ride with us!

[sirens]

[applause]

[male voice] Congratulations, buddy.

You did it, man. You did it, brother.

[sirens]

[male voice] There we go.

[applause]

[Gabriel] We just wanted to be able to show people

through my actions that

they have all the tools that God has given

them to be able to live to their potential.

But the people I owe the most gratitude to are

the seven people

who dedicated their lives for three months to see

this through.

I wanna acknowledge Joshua Streeter, Angel Marckwordt,

Chris Yanke, Derek Gibbs; a very young man

who is courageous, my nephew, Christopher.

One person is not with us and his name is Christian Link.

You know, we all have angels that come into our lives for

a certain reason, and, uh, my angel, her name is Lisa France.

[applause]

[Gabriel] And my mom and my dad, who

at times, I felt, did not deserve a son like me.

However, today I can say, "Mom and Dad, your son made history,

baby!"

[applause]

[Gabriel] This experience showed me

the limitless potential of humanity.

It helped me find my purpose,

and gave me the courage to continue to roll...

and carry the message of hope that, together,

we can accomplish extraordinary things.

[music]