For most of his life, George Gallego has relied on determination, hard work and grit.

It goes back more than 30 years ago, when Gallego was inspecting a construction site where he worked.

"I was searching for the light switch, didn’t find it in time, tripped on some cables that the electricians left laying around and went overboard and fell three stories," Gallego said.

He woke up in a hospital.

"I tried to stand up out of the hospital bed and kind of fell over and rolled on my stomach," Gallego said.

It was that moment, Gallego said, that he realized he couldn't walk. Gallego was paralyzed from the waist down.

"It took me almost 10 years to kind of finally accept the world of spinal cord injury," Gallego said. "It took me that long to love myself."

By that point, he ballooned to about 350 pounds. He knew something had to change. So he started to go around the block in his wheelchair.

Those laps, eventually, turned into marathons. And after years, they became triathlons.

"I was hooked immediately," Gallego said.

He was hooked on wellness. And that opened his eyes to a problem.

"There aren't any gyms in the city that are completely accessible and catered to folks that may need additional assistance in a space. I don't know of any," Gallego said.

So Access Initiatives was born. He opened two gyms, one in Brooklyn and the other in Manhattan. The equipment, the layout and the trainers were all ready to assist anyone who comes in, especially those with disabilities and seniors.

"Having a space that understands your unique needs is extremely important," Gallego said.

Gallego says that about 900 people went to Access Initiatives. But everything changed on March 20, 2020.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all non-essential businesses to close as COVID-19 rapidly spread throughout the city. So the lights went off at Gallego's businesses and he eventually lost his leases.

"It was personally one of the most challenging things I had to experience," Gallego said.

But don’t count out Gallego. He spent close to 3 1/2 years building the next round for Access Initiatives.

He started renting a long-vacant storefront on East 118th Street in Manhattan back in October 2020, but it needed a ton of work.

"There was no floor. No ceiling," Gallego said. "There was no electrical leading into this space. There was no plumbing whatsoever."

He spent many hours fixing it up himself, even using yellow straps to hang from the ceiling to install lights.

And in the coming weeks, he plans to be back in business, just waiting for the city's certificate of occupancy. 

"I'm really excited about opening these doors and inviting our members back in the space so we can reconnect after being apart for so long," Gallego said.

It may be a new space, but it will be the same concept as before. 

It took Gallego a long time to come back from the pandemic and even longer to love himself.

"Once you can get a person to feel good about themselves physically, then you can start working on other aspects of life," Gallego said. "And this is just a springboard."