| Richard Galli 2004-10-17, 2:08 am |
| You can find this article at
http://www.richardgalli.com/blog/
CHRIS REEVE STILL NEEDS OUR HELP
Chris Reeve died a few hours ago from complications resulting from his
spinal cord injury. It’s the same thing that may eventually kill my son
Jeffrey.
Chris broke his neck while jumping a horse; Jeff broke his neck while
diving into a swimming pool. Life was never the same for either. Both
lost feeling in and use of every part of his body below the neck.
Neither could breathe without mechanical assistance. Both have been
fighting a ceaseless a battle against deterioration and disease.
But Chris decided to fight a bigger battle, against paralysis itself.
There is an invisible line that has formed all across the world, made up
of spinal cord injury victims waiting for a cure. I have said for years
that when they find that cure, Chris Reeve deserved to be first in line
to get it. But not because Chris was a celebrity.
He deserved to be first in line for a cure because he made the line.
Before Chris Reeve became involved, science was making slow progress but
few doctors or scientists believed a cure for spinal cord injury was
possible in the near future. Chris Reeve’s determination, and the energy
he threw at the problem, changed that thinking.
Within a short time, he had helped to bring the scientific community
together, and had helped to focus and coordinate their planning. The
world began to realize that a cure was possible within the lifetimes of
victims who were hoping for it.
Reeve did for the race to find a cure exactly what President Kennedy had
done for the race into space. Kennedy made the nation believe we could
reach the moon. It was his infectious belief that caused us to plan the
voyage.
Confronting paralysis and a host of other diseases that stem cell
research might cure, Chris Reeve provided us with a belief that the
journey to a cure could actually be taken. He provided confidence; he
invigorated the scientists and doctors; and he also worked to find the
resources.
—————–
They say Chris Reeve, weakened by infection, died of a heart attack. I
think he may have died, instead, of a broken heart. He certainly had
cause to be disappointed. His battle had certainly become harder, his
load so much heavier.
He had brought us to the edge of a new technological landscape, where
stem cell research held such promise for so many.
And then forces began to push him back. His marvelous voyage into the
future was blocked by zealots, who claimed that God had put
2000-year-old boundaries on man’s imagination.
To many of us, Chris Reeve represented transcendent grace under
pressure, an unquenchable enthusiasm for ridding the world of suffering.
We grieve his loss.
To others, Chris Reeve was a pest. While those people will make a public
show of sympathy, they will quietly – and smugly – celebrate the defeat
of an enemy who had hampered their effort to drive us into the past.
In November, when thousands of voters flip a lever or mark a ballot
card, we will be thinking:
"This is for you, Chris."
Even after death, Chris Reeve still needs our help.
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You can find this article, more nicely presented, at
http://www.richardgalli.com/blog/
Thanks.
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