Amesbury, MA
About Nathaniel Bibaud:
Nate Bibaud was born in 1984 and is from Amesbury, Massachusetts. He grew up skateboarding and playing goalie in hockey. After studying architecture in college, he moved to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, where he worked in print and graphic design.
In late 2010, Nate was in a serious car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, with limited use of his arms and no function in his hands. He uses a wheelchair and spent several weeks in the ICU at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by four months at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
About a month after the accident, he began drawing again with the help of a recreational therapist named Ashley. With a splint on his hand and her support lifting his arm, he was able to create some early squiggly drawings. After moving home and gaining strength in his shoulders through relentless therapy and exercise, Nate reached a point where he could draw independently.
He eventually expanded into watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting. Over the years, he’s survived not only a spinal cord injury, but also organ infections, a massive blood clot, and cancer. Today, he works full time creating and selling his artwork.
It’s a life he never expected—but he’s living it fully. And, as Nate puts it, “I can’t be killed. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.”
Follow him on Instagram: @natebibaud
