Two Friends. Two Injuries. One Mission.

[manouli]

Sunday, March 14, 2010
Two Friends. Two Injuries. One Mission.
By: Janelle LoBello

Nameanny Heumann
Injury: T4 paraplegic
Mechanism of injury: Auto accident
Date of injury: August 13, 1985
Hometown: Riverdale, NY
Website: heumannlycapable.com

Name: Alan Brown
Injury: C5, C6 quadriplegic
Mechanism of injury: Swimming accident
Date of injury: January 2, 1988
Hometown: New York, NY
Website: atbf.org


Having been classmates and friends since the 1980s, Danny Heumann and Alan T. Brown share a unique story that has now brought them together again as members of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Board of Directors.

Danny was paralyzed at 18-years-old in August 1985 in a car accident. In January 1988, Alan became paralyzed, at the age of 20, as a result of a swimming accident.

"We're two New York boys who bit the bullet," says Danny, 42, of himself and Alan, 43. "He broke his neck. It wasn't enough to be paralyzed; he had to become a quad to show me up!"

"I would never think in a class of 70 kids, that two kids, two best friends, were going to end up in wheelchairs," says Alan. "We walked down the aisle together at our high school graduation," explains Alan, who considers Danny to be like a brother to him. "That was probably the last time I saw Danny walking."

Danny's broken back
Just two weeks before he was set to begin his freshman year at Syracuse University, Danny was injured in an auto accident while serving as a camp counselor in the Adirondacks. "The driver of the car I was in was speeding around a curb," explains Danny, quick to point out there were no drugs or alcohol involved. "He was killed, the two others walked away without a scratch, and I broke my back and was paralyzed."

When Danny was injured, Alan decided he would do all he could do to help his friend. "I would take him places, drive him around," says Alan. "Stuff I never thought I would be doing, but I didn't mind. I would help him take his wheelchair apart, get dressed, urological things … anything to make life easier."

more....

http://alantbrown.blogspot.com/