Since today is such a beautiful Thursday, and because I found both of these stories topical and imminently uplifting, I’ve decided to share two inspirational posts wrapped into one. Hurray! Double shot of goodness to start your day.
HELP FOR HEROES
We begin with Phil Packer. A 36 year old British soldier who was gravely wounded in a Rocket attack on his base in Iraq February 2008. He spent 4 months in the hospital, his lower spine badly injured, his motor control below the waist gone completely. Doctor’s told him he would never walk again.
Now I can only imagine the bone-crushing despair that might settle into my crippled spirit should I find myself suddenly a paraplegic. I can imagine myself cursing the Royal Military Police and The British Army to which I’d already given 16 years of active and unwavering service. I might even look at the statistics of battlefield injuries from the Iraq war, over 30,000, and realize that I am not alone, my injuries are not special… and perhaps slide even deeper into anger and ennui.
But not Phil Packer. He praises his time as a soldier… in fact he says he’s planning on going back. And before even leaving his hospital bed, Phil had made a pledge to pull himself up and out of that wheelchair. His goal: raise 1 million pounds for “Help For Heroes”, a disabled veterans charity, by attempting 3 seemingly impossible challenges.
1 year after the rocket took his legs, Phil rowed across the English channel. You can watch that incredible journey HERE.
And last Saturday, Phil completed the entire 26 miles of the London Marathon, on crutches! A man who would never walk again, walking an entire marathon only a year after his diagnosis. Amazing! He walked 2 miles everyday for 13 days, all to raise awareness and donations.
In his own words: “I don’t want to be helped. I want to help other people. Not that I’m not grateful, but… you know… I really want to be able to help people.”
Next month he plans to climb the face of El Capitan, one of the highest and most difficult rock climbing mountains in the world. He plans to pull himself up, hand over hand, the entire 3000 ft. A perfect metaphor for pulling yourself up out of despair or disability and back into the life-light.
Bravo Phil! SuperForest salutes you. And if you want to support Phil’s fundraising efforts, visit his website HERE.
THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS
Our second story today is a pleasant little tale about Erik Bendl. This quiet 47 year old man from Louisville Kentucky, lost his grandmother and his mother to Diabetes. Around the same time, he acquired a rather enormous and awesome 60 pound rubber Globe. And so it began, Erik walking across town, pushing his giant globe to raise awareness for diabetes.
Since then his walked to Pitsburg and Lexington, Kentucky and back. And now he’s embarked on a new expedition — 512 miles from Louisville to Kansas City. Pushing the globe the whole way.
In his own words: “I would love to go out and raise a million dollars with this walk, but if I can get just one person with diabetes to take care of themselves, so they can be there for their family, it’s worth it.”
You can follow his journey at his BLOG. Thanks CNN iReports for the tip.
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