Bars, cars and catastrophies
Makoto Yamagishi
Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: News
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The program emphasized the hazards for college-aged students of drinking and driving as well as the lifetime catastrophes, which can result from these preventable decisions. He added people between 16 and 25 years of age are most likely to be involved with drunken driving which can result in brain and spinal cord injuries.
Rhea said he still asks himself why he has had to suffer this much even though he was not to blame.
"If three of 450 (people) said 'OK, I would never drink and drive again ever in my life,' I've done my job."
Rhea said he hopes to give opportunities to think about treasuring individual lives and real stories of college athletes, whose lives changed dramatically because of one instance of driving under the influence.
In his presentation, he disclosed his personal plight after he broke his neck and was left paralyzed from the neck down while playing football when he was 14 years old. His doctor said to be prepared to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Rhea said that day is a special day for him, his family, friends and the whole world to think about what life is. Rhea described his hardship to recover from his injury.
"Every day of my life was as if I was running a marathon. That's how much my body goes through. It's fatigued, overstressed, overworked, it's weak, (because of the) spinal cord injury," Rhea said.
Rhea expressed the indescribable and catastrophic feelings of not being able to use or feel his body from the neck down. He said the inability of doing ordinary things depressed him. It also changed his family's life.
"I am a person (like everybody else)," Rhea added. "It took me a long time for me to realize that." People often come up to Rhea after hearing his story letting him know that he made a difference and because of him, I will wear my seatbelt for the rest of my life. "Indirectly I am probably saving lives. I may never know that. But, that's a cool feeling," Rhea said.
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