Witnessing Natalie Barnhard-Castrogiovanni

Over the last few days, I’ve been trying to find the right words, not just to honor Natalie, but to understand what this experience truly meant to me.

As someone who had the privilege of helping tell her story, I didn’t simply observe Natalie’s life. I lived alongside it for a long time. Through filming, time spent at the center, conversations with her family and friends, and countless hours alone in the edit, I came to know her story in a way that goes beyond a single role or title.

I witnessed Natalie’s pain and her courage through recovery. I witnessed her struggles, her victories, her setbacks, and the moments where she discovered her purpose and chose to commit fully to it. That purpose was forged through her own suffering and then selflessly shared with others, people she hadn’t yet met, and people she never would, through the legacy of The Natalie Barnhard Center for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Recovery and The Motion Project Foundation, the center she founded and helped build. That kind of selfless care is rare.

I also witnessed how deeply loved she was.

I witnessed her sister Melissa, whose devotion never wavered, a constant, grounding force beside her. I witnessed a younger brother, Nicholas, who clearly looked up to Natalie, inspired by his big sister in ways that didn’t need words. I witnessed how profoundly her accident affected her older brother Michael, how protective he was of her, how precious she was to him, and how that moment shaped his life as much as it shaped hers.

I witnessed her parents’ pain after the accident, the kind no parent should ever have to endure, and their faith leading them as courage in navigating something unimaginable, never stopping, never giving up. I witnessed how that collective love transformed pain into something meaningful, eventually giving rise to Motion Project itself.

I witnessed her best friend Beth embody the truest definition of friendship, unwavering, loyal, and ever-present. Natalie’s recovery was never a solo journey. It was a team effort, built on love, belief, sacrifice, and endurance.

And then there was Steve.

I witnessed a love Natalie never thought she would have. I witnessed the glow when she spoke about him, the way she looked at him, the way he protected her, cared for her, and stood beside her. What they shared was steady and real, love grounded in trust, devotion, and mutual strength.

Throughout all of this, I was also navigating my own experience.

This work took more out of me than I fully realized at the time. For Natalie’s 20-year injury anniversary, I committed to delivering the video in six days, working completely solo. Those six days meant relentless work, almost no sleep, filming multiple interviews around tight schedules, editing, scoring, and still filming additional footage the night before the anniversary. It was emotionally and physically intense, but I pushed forward because I felt the weight of her story and the responsibility to do right by it.

Natalie told me to make it raw and real. She didn’t care how long it was, only that it was complete and honest. That mattered deeply to me. I was hard on myself because I wanted the story to be the very best I was capable of delivering. Doing the work alone under that kind of pressure placed me fully inside her world, witnessing her family, her friends, and the love that surrounded her.

There were moments I struggled. In those moments, I thought of Natalie and what she had endured, and it helped me continue. Her perseverance reframed my own struggle and made it possible to keep going.

Natalie’s life is a profound story of tragedy, perseverance, rebuilding, and ultimately soaring into purpose. She held God’s hand through belief, faith, and trust, and allowed that faith to guide her forward. She achieved more than most do in a lifetime, but even rarer was the courage, clarity, and strength it took to recognize her calling and step fully into it.

Now that she is gone, I understand how important this work truly was. Not just to her, not just to her family or community, but to me. Being trusted with her story was an honor I will carry forever.

I truly believe Natalie was an angel on earth.

Her strength lives on in her family, in her friends, in the Motion Project community, and in everyone who was changed by witnessing her journey.

Rest easy, Natalie.

Thank you for trusting me with your story.

Much love and aloha,

Dan Oshier