Photo by jcolman

My sophomore year of college at The University of Kentucky, I met a guy that ended up being one of my best friends in college.  He was my college roommate for the rest of his time at UK.  I needed another year to get out of there so my last year of school was without him!!

We all knew this guy would go on to do something impressive.  He was an outstanding student though his worst college grade came in an elective about dinosaurs.  I am thinking that most 8 year old boys could get an A in that class, but I probably would have done worse.  He graduated from UK with a Political Science degree and went out into the real world of politics.  While he was at UK, he was an intern for the Kentucky State Legislature, worked in the US Marshals office, was an FBI intern, and basically made it look like my 15 credits per semester was child’s play. 

He was always giving me crap about not spending the time I should have been studing and he was right.  He also called me a Yankee because I was from “Northern” Kentucky.  He was wrong about that.  The bottom line is that he was one of those positive influences that every parent hopes their kid will befriend although we managed to enjoy our college experience to say the least.

After undergrad, he went to DC and did some work for the Justice Department as a speech writer for Janet Reno (Republican as he is).  He called me one day and said that I have to watch Saturday Night Live that night but he wouldn’t tell me why.  That insider information got me to watch and what a treat it was to see the real Janet Reno on SNL. 

After working in DC, he returned home to UK and got his law degree, met a wonderful woman and I thought he would settle down in the bluegrass and pursue his political ambitions but next thing I heard was that he was off to the FBI training facility to become a federal agent.  While an agent, he even went off to Iraq to investigate something that if he told me about it, he would have to kill me.

Fortunately, he returned home with his life intact and his wonderful future unfolding before his eyes.  Soon, he and his wife had a beautiful little girl and they were settling into their life.  One day, I was looking on their family website and learned that something very tragic happened.  Something caused my friend to become paralyzed from the hips down and rendered him unable to walk.  A man who loved to run could no longer walk.

Fortunately, the stars aligned and he was able to find a clinic that could help him and it was in his beloved Bluegrass State.  He was put on the waiting list at the Frazier Rehab Institute and quickly was accepted.  Soon after packing up and moving to Louisville, I spoke to my friend on the phone:  he was very strong about the whole ordeal, just as I had expected he would be.  The one thing that got me was that he wanted to be able to chase his daughter around the house.  I don’t think that any mixture of factors could have provided more motivation for him than the thought of not being able to keep up with his little girl, and that really got to me.  I only knew him as a friend, not as a father; but I know how important getting back on his feet was for him because I wouldn’t want a life of watching my little boy grow up without chasing him through it.

So, I bring this story to you in hopes that if you have the means, you can help the rehab center that has helped my friend get back on his feet.  Below is a video of the Frazier Rehab Institute featuring Russell.  I am pleased to report that he has been able to pick up has daughter and I know that he and his family give a great deal of credit to the folks at Frazier.  We are all praying for you Russell, from AZ to DC and beyond.

Again, if you have the means to help the Frazier Rehab Institute, please visit the Red Carpet Bluegrass Event Celebrating the Frazier Rehab Institute.