To be clear, the term “wild” is not a reference to feral cats nor the rowdier domestic felines that grace the veterinary exam table, nor even wild cats in the zoo. For many, this process takes years, and yet I was fortunate as a “cat person” to have already discovered Panthera, an organization dedicated exclusively to conserving the world’s 40 species of wild cats and their landscapes, and I was supporting it and other wild cat conservation efforts through the establishment of The Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust. But when enduring a transformative event, one learns to let go of what seemed precious during a previous life and focus instead on what can provide purpose given an altered physical condition. I had achieved a level of success, including personal financial success, I never dreamed possible.
Novel new products such as Catalyst, ProCyte, Sedivue, SDMA, fecal antigen and VetConnect Plus moved the needle for veterinary medicine’s standard of care.
Focused pet and livestock health care innovation was our game, with an investment of more than 80% of the industry’s research and development in pet health care diagnostic and information technology. Steering Idexx through annual revenue increases - from $380 million to $2.4 billion - led to stock price growth from $6 to $480 per share. Along with having to give up to others the daily tasks of self-care taken for granted by most, one of the ultimate sacrifices was my need to abandon a career I loved: an extraordinary 17-year tenure as Idexx Laboratories’ chairman, president and CEO. My sudden disability forced me to make painful and previously inconceivable physical, emotional and social sacrifices. Although I am eternally grateful to have avoided a brain injury (due to my high-tech helmet), there was no denying that my world was forever and catastrophically altered. The accident was a painful lesson in how easily human hubris is dashed by the frailty of our bodies. Two months in, I began to appreciate the severity of my condition - paralysis from the neck down save for limited arm and wrist movement. Neurosurgeons tell you that every spinal cord injury is different, and thus they couldn’t forecast how much body function I would recover or when. When I had my cycling accident in June 2019, it wasn’t immediately apparent how much I had lost.
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