Stories of Hope

Joe Rhea

September 11, 1984 is a day my life changed forever. While playing Jr. High football, I broke my neck and was left paralyzed from the neck down. My family and I were told, "be prepared for Joe to spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair." I was 14 years old.

As you can imagine my family and I were devastated. But fortunately for me my spinal cord allowed me to have some recovery. Today I am a walking, running, snow-skiing, golfing "medical miracle". I am one of the very few as of now, who have had an opportunity to rebuild my body. It took almost two years of physical therapy, five days a week. It was the single most painful experience of my life.

Spinal cord injuries are not only physically devastating, but emotionally and financially devastating as well. Today American taxpayers spend nearly 9 billion dollars a year on spinal cord patient care. Nearly 75 percent of all spinal cord injured people are suffering from some form of depression.

For the past six years of my life I have been the lead speaker for the Think First Foundation of Kansas City. Think First is a global non-profit foundation whose mission is to prevent brain and spinal cord injuries. Injuries that as of right now are still incurable. Injuries that can afflict any one of us at any given time. Because these injuries happen the most in car crashes. Think First speaks to schools grades k-12 about the these devastating injuries, and how to prevent them. It is imperative because there is no cure as of now.

But ask yourself this question, when a cure is found for spinal cord injuries, or Parkinson's, Juvenile Diabetes, ALS, heart disease, should you as a Missourian have the same rights as any other American in our country to receive those cures that are allowed under federal law? The answer is yes. You should have the same rights as anyone else in this great country of ours.

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