7 months ago, Chris Rodriguez was a normal 10 year old. Then some thug shattered his world. Rodriguez was taking music lessons at a music school in Oakland, California. Unbeknownst to him, a robbery was taken place outside the building. One of the robbers fired his gun. The bullet went through the wall of the music school and hit Rodriguez in the side. The bullet paralyzed him from the waist down.
This kid is a fighter though. He’s been trying to build up his strength as he earned a coveted spot at the Oakland School for the Arts. He’ll start school there in September.
Rodriguez days are filled with pain, but he won’t give up. His spirit has caught the eye of many in the community who are hoping for his full recovery. One of those people is Dan Dumas, a real estate investor. Dumas broke his neck three years ago and could not do anything for himself. Using a type of neurological rehabilitation that combines exercise and electrical stimulation, Dumas regained the ability to walk with braces.
He opened up a rehab center in the San Francisco Bay Area to help others with similar injuries.
Dumas heard about Rodriguez. He is giving the family three months free services. He doesn’t want to give the kid false hope, but hopes that he will benefit from the exercises. Since he is young and has regained some movement in his hips and has feeling in his knees, there is hope for him. The treatment isn’t proven and there is some skepticism. Still, when you have little else to try, you might as well go for it.
I’m really rooting for this kid. He shows tremendous spirit after a tragedy. He’s my hero!
San Francisco it’s 22nd Annual AIDs Walk today. In the crisp morning fog, thousands of people gathered to walk at Sharon Meadows in Golden Gate Park. They then traversed a 6.2 mile course through the park and back to Sharon Meadows.
The walk brings out all sorts of people, young and old. Dogs come with their owners as moral support. Walkers come individually or in teams. Some come in costume or carry signs.
The pledged donations will be used locally. The money benefits many organizations who help those diagnosed with AIDs living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco AIDs Foundation is one of the beneficiaries, but some donations will go to the Horizon Foundation than distributed to some 50 organizations that have been preselected.
If you’d like to learn more about the AIDs Walk and see photographs from the event go to: San Francisco AIDs Walk
Kevin Connolly was born without legs. The Montana native is healthy otherwise. He skateboards and has done things the rest of us born with legs only dream of.
But, his appearance causes others discomfort. He has lived his life with the stares of strangers. Though he has lived a normal life, he can’t get around those looks of pity and anxiety.
On a trip to Europe, Connolly took a photograph of one gawker. That one photograph has turned into 32,000. The photographic is exhibit is called the “Rolling Exhibition”.
The photographs capture the range of emotions people experience when they see something out of the ordinary. They don’t realize that while they are staring they’ve been observed. It’s an interest mix of expressions that he has captured.
You can view some of the shots on his website: http://www.therollingexhibition.com/gallery.php
