ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the strengths and limits in the daily life of the adherence to rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury and their families. Method: an interpretive study of a qualitative nature, based on Comprehensive and Everyday Life Sociology, involving 21 participants, 12 individuals with spinal cord injury and 9 family members, in a Specialized Rehabilitation Center in southern Brazil. The sources of evidence were individual and collective interviews, adopting the strategy of workshops for data validation. The Atlas.ti software was used for data collation and organization. Data analysis involved the following stages: preliminary analysis, ordering, key links, coding, and categorization. Results: the following categories and subcategories were found: Strengths in the adherence to rehabilitation - welcoming and walking side by side; rehabilitation: a return to life; coexistence that brings the family together, as well as practicing faith. Limits on the adherence to rehabilitation - (d)efficiency of the health professionals in health care. Conclusion: rehabilitation was evidenced as a possibility of returning to life, which enables coexistence among equals and stimulates self-care and adaptation. The family rescues the desire to live, and faith is a mechanism of hope and optimism. It is noteworthy that the welcoming deficit in Primary Health Care and the scarcity of rehabilitation care services in the hospital determine the onset of avoidable complications, in addition to the lack of guidance and/or referrals, characterizing a gap in the Referral and Counter-Referral System.