j_raney@verizon.net
12-23-2008, 11:34 PM
My name is Jack, I am a survivor of West Nile Meningoencephalitis 2004 this is my association with the disease and the virus that one step away from taking my life. I was a strong capable man, baseball coach, mason, father, husband and a son, strange how a little insect can change the role in which I will for ever play.
I no longer play baseball and might never sling a trowel full of mud to build the foundations most peoples houses are built on, I can except, I guess or at least that's how I fool myself everyday to get by. I'm still a father and a husband and a son, nothing will change that, but what the disease did change is how I interact with those around me who love and care for me.
I've spent the last 4 years fighting to survive, battling depression, paralysis, post-Parkinson's syndrome, wading through treacherous waters to get where I am today. My family and I have been on a campaign to spread awareness of West Nile Virus, worked with HBO on 2006 Earth Day special, Asian Television Documentary, West Nile Public Service Announcements, Discovery Health Mystery ER, the list goes on and on. Even though we struggle to get the message out there, everyday another victim falls to the disease.
This is my story in a nut shell.
I no longer play baseball and might never sling a trowel full of mud to build the foundations most peoples houses are built on, I can except, I guess or at least that's how I fool myself everyday to get by. I'm still a father and a husband and a son, nothing will change that, but what the disease did change is how I interact with those around me who love and care for me.
I've spent the last 4 years fighting to survive, battling depression, paralysis, post-Parkinson's syndrome, wading through treacherous waters to get where I am today. My family and I have been on a campaign to spread awareness of West Nile Virus, worked with HBO on 2006 Earth Day special, Asian Television Documentary, West Nile Public Service Announcements, Discovery Health Mystery ER, the list goes on and on. Even though we struggle to get the message out there, everyday another victim falls to the disease.
This is my story in a nut shell.