Nov 15 2008
Happy Stories of Disability, Post III
Leon Sebek was a skydiver. His shoot didn’t open and he got wrapped around the tail of the plane. He lay in a quarry for 8 hours until rescuers found him. He was not supposed to survive, but seven months later he left the rehab hospital- walking and talking. His mind, however, is not what it once was and he’s not likely ever to work again
Ahad Israhfil is my stepdad says, “one lucky bastard.” At 14, he was accidentally shot while at his overnight grocery store job. No one survives the kind of injury, but no one told that to Ahad. Part of his skull was blown away by the gun. It was reconstructed and, now with hair grown over it, you can’t even tell that he had a skull injury. Later, Ahad went on to graduate with honors from a local community college, He’s in a manual wheelchair, has some motor delays, and speech impairment. But he went on, despite his challenges, to open a business with his cousin.
Both of these men make me proud to me an American with a disability. I’m proud of the way they triumphed.
