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Famous Spinal Cord Injuries
Christopher Reeve |
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Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 - October 10, 2004) was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter and author. He achieved stardom for his acting achievements, including his notable motion picture portrayal of the fictional character Superman. On May 27, 1995, Reeve became a quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse in an equestrian competition in Virginia. He required a wheelchair and breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries, and for human embryonic stem cell research afterward. He founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. Reeve married Dana Morosini in April 1992, and they had a son, William, born that June. Reeve had two children, Matthew (born 1979) and Alexandra (born 1983), from his previous relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Gae Exton. |
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General George Patton |
(Left to Right) General Bradley, President Eisenhower, General Patton
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George Smith Patton, Jr. (also George Smith Patton III) (November 11, 1885 - December 21, 1945) was a United States Army officer most famous for his leadership commanding corps and armies as a general in World War II. He was also widely known for his controversial outspokenness. On December 9, 1945, Patton was severely injured in a road accident. He and his chief of staff, Major General Hobart R. "Hap" Gay, were on a day trip to hunt pheasants in the country outside Mannheim. Their 1938 Cadillac Model 75 was driven by Private First Class Horace Woodring (1926–2003), Patton sitting in the back seat on the right side, with General Gay on his left, as per custom. At 11:45 near Neckarstadt (Mannheim-Käfertal), a 2.5 ton GMC truck driven by Technical Sergeant Robert L. Thompson made a left turn in front of Patton's Cadillac. Patton's car hit the front of the truck, at a low speed. At first the crash seemed minor, the vehicles were hardly damaged, no one in the truck was hurt, and Gay and Woodring were uninjured. However, Patton was leaning back with trouble breathing. The general had been thrown forward and his head struck a metal part of the partition between the front and back seats, incurring a cervical spinal cord injury. Paralyzed from the neck down, he was rushed to the military hospital in Heidelberg. Patton died of a pulmonary embolism on December 21, 1945. The funeral service was held at the Christ Church (Christuskirche) in Heidelberg-Südstadt. |
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Derrick Thomas |
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Derrick Vincent Thomas (January 1, 1967 - February 8, 2000), nicknamed D.T., was an American football linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played his entire 11-year career for the Chiefs after being drafted 4th overall in the 1989 NFL Draft. Thomas, part of the class of 2009 entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was a premier football player throughout the 1990s and is considered one of the best pass rushers of all-time. In 1990 against the Seattle Seahawks, he set an NFL record with seven sacks in a single game. On February 8, 2000, Thomas died from a massive blood clot that developed in his paralyzed lower extremities and traveled to his lungs. His paralysis was the result of severe injuries sustained in a car accident weeks earlier. |
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George Wallace |
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George Corley Wallace, Jr. (August 25, 1919 - September 13, 1998), was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential defeated candidate" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S. president four times, running officially as a Democrat three times and in the American Independent Party once. He is best known for his Southern populist, pro-segregation attitudes during the American desegregation period, convictions he renounced later in life. A 1972 assassination attempt left him paralyzed and a wheelchair user for the remainder of his life. He suffered from constant pain before he died of septic shock from a bacterial infection in Jackson Hospital in Montgomery on September 13, 1998. He suffered from respiratory problems in addition to complications from his gun-shot spinal injury. He is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery. |
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Sam Sullivan |
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Sam Sullivan, CM (born 1959) is a former mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The extremely athletic Sullivan became paralyzed after he broke his neck in a skiing accident at the age of 19. After a seven year struggle with depression, he successfully completed a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Simon Fraser University. Sullivan later founded six non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for disabled people in North America. Sullivan suffered a fracture dislocation of his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra. The result is he is almost completely paralyzed with no use of his fingers or triceps, but with some use of shoulders biceps and wrists. Sullivan can write notes, use the telephone pressing buttons with his knuckle, and drive specially outfitted vehicles. Sullivan is also known for his advocacy on behalf of the physically disabled. In 2005, Sullivan was invested as a member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Sullivan was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Peter F. Drucker Award for Innovation. After being involved in creating non-profit societies and volunteering for non-profit initiatives, Sam met a number of people involved in politics. Former BC provincial cabinet minister Grace McCarthy suggested that Sam consider running for council. He had spent quite a few years improving the lives of others with disabilities, and realized government had a lot to do with that area. Sullivan was first elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993 as a member of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA). Sullivan served for 15 years total on Vancouver city council. He served as mayor from 2005-2008, promoting the Paralympic Games, urban planning and civic strategy, environmentalism, and drug addiction treatment. |
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James Langevin |
Langevin presides over the House July 26, 2010
(L to R: Sensenbrenner, Langevin, Hoyer, Pelosi) |
James R. Langevin (born April 22, 1964) is a Democratic member of the Rhode Island congressional delegation. He represents the state's 2nd District, serving since 2001. Langevin has been unable to walk since 1980, when, at the age of 16, he was seriously injured in an accidental shooting. He had been working as a volunteer at the Warwick Police Department when a weapon accidentally discharged. He is known as an advocate for people with disabilities and for universal health care. On July 27, 2004, he spoke to the Democratic National Convention, largely on the subject of stem cell research. In March 2007, Langevin became a co-sponsor of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which had the stated purpose of "enhancing and furthering research into paralysis and to improve rehabilitation and the quality of life for persons living with paralysis and other physical disabilities." The bill passed the House of Representatives but not the Senate. However, in 2009, the bill was included in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, also co-sponsored by Langevin, which passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. On July 26, 2010, Langevin presided over the House for the first time to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, becoming the first disabled member to do so. "What a powerful symbol of inclusion and opportunity for anyone who wants to serve in the United States Congress," he said. The speaker's rostrum was reconstructed to provide accessibility earlier in 2010. |
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