US campaigner moved by Kevin’s story

THE BRAVERY of Carnoustie man Kevin Christie—whose battle to regain as much of his health as possible following an accident which left him blind and paralysed from the neck down was highlighted in The Courier—has been praised by an American campaigner who, more than most, knows what Kevin is going through.

Within hours of Kevin’s story hitting the news stands in Scotland, the global nature of the news industry meant it came to the attention of Mike Di Scipio, a former officer with New York’s Albany County Sheriff’s Department. Mike sustained a similar injury in 1999 in very similar circumstances.

At a party to celebrate his son’s Little League baseball championship, Mike (34) dived into his pool and struck his head, fracturing his C4 and C5 vertebrae and leaving him paralysed from the chest down.

He is now a volunteer member of the Capital District chapter of the Spinal Cord Society and an advocate for advancement of human embryonic stem cell research legislation in New York State.

Mike met State Senate Leader Joseph L. Bruno and spoke at a press conference on the passage of a bill which addresses reproductive cloning prohibition and research protection.

Mike also raised more than $8000 to erect a billboard publicising the issue, and has launched a mass Email and postal campaign to raise awareness of its importance.

In an Email to The Courier, Mike said, “I’ve found the Press is very important in keeping the fight for a cure in the public eye and to keep the pressure on our no-good, dirty politicians.

“I strongly feel the public is being misled and misinformed by the right-to-lifers’ and Catholics’—of which I am one—attitude towards embryonic stem cell research.

“Hopefully my website—at www.scrny.org—and advocating around the world can help overcome that ignorance and give people like myself, Kevin Christie, and many, many others the chance to improve our quality of life.”

On the day of his accident Mike, a 230-pound powerlifter and “active guy,” jumped on to the rails of the poolside deck he had built and dived in. “I came down right at that point where the shallow and deep ends meet. I had played running back in football and I was hoping the pain was just a stinger but I remember being pulled out of the pool and having trouble breathing.

“When you’re a macho guy and you do something stupid, you feel embarrassed but, after that, things got foggy.”

Mike spent 11 days in intensive care at Albany Medical Center Hospital, then six weeks in recovery there having broken two vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord. He was paralysed and suffered a brain injury that affected his memory.

He said, “It took me three years to come out of a fog, to feel like myself again.”

Since “the fog” lifted Mike has devoted himself to the stem cell research cause, with the support of other spinal cord injury sufferers—including former police officer Paul Richter, paralysed after being shot in the neck in the 1970s, and Gary Wood, who broke his back in a motor cycle accident in 1978.

Mike even shared a campaign stage with the late Superman actor Christopher Reeve.

“Christopher was a fantastic figurehead for the campaign but when you hear from an ordinary Joe like me, who has to struggle every day, you get a different story.

“I wish Kevin all the very best in his personal battle.”

Kevin’s brother Graeme said he was very touched by Mike’s interest and said he would be getting in touch via his website.