Artists come together to aid Terry Earp

Funny how the old adages often ring true. Like the one about tragedy bringing out the best in people.

In the two months since Valley playwright and actress Terry Earp was hit by an SUV while she was riding her bicycle in north Phoenix — an accident that’s set her on a roller coaster of recovery, setbacks and early prognoses of quadri- or Paraplegia — fellow artists and friends have come out of the woodwork in support.

Some, like poet and songwriter Rod McKuen and folk musician Barry McGuire, have never met her. Never knew about her reputation here and outside the Valley as a playwright of historical dramas and Western monologues performed by herself and husband Wyatt Earp, nephew of the legendary lawman. Continue Reading »

Celling a Strategy

Opposition to embryo-destroying research is not a losing issue. At least it shouldn’t be.

“How can you side with those people?”

In 2002, a paralyzed research advocate who actively supports embryonic-stem-cell and human-cloning research asked me this question. By “those” people she meant Christians, conservatives, and pro-life groups. Continue Reading »

The Simple Things: Giving Thanks For Life

(WCCO) Pause for a moment to ponder some of the basics of life we may take for granted — like walking or just being able to move our hands.

A couple from Eagan knows how precious such simple things can be, and they’re willing to go halfway around the world to get those abilities back.

Jay Magee and Jill Kraus had a fairy tale beginning to their lives together. They were wed in April of 2005 on a sandy ribbon of Dominican beach, but “happily ever after” soon took on a new meaning for the longtime sweet hearts. Continue Reading »

Injured man sees new hope in Russia

HILLIARD – Raymond Krolikowski just wants to hug his wife and daughters again.

Krolikowski, 31, has been paralyzed from the shoulders down since a bull-riding accident at a Jacksonville bar in 2003. Now he’s hoping a pioneering clinic in Russia will help him regain the use of more of his body.

“I’d do anything to hold my wife and kids,” Krolikowski said. “That’s the light at the end of the tunnel. To hold my wife and kids and to do things with them. And I miss fishing. I used to love fishing.” Continue Reading »

Paraplegic LI politician seeks state senate seat

SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — The title of her autobiography says it all about Brooke Ellison’s longshot chance of upsetting a two-term incumbent Tuesday in her state Senate bid: “Miracles Happen.”

Paralyzed from the neck down and Ventilator-dependent since a 1990 traffic accident, the 28-year-old Democrat is making her first bid for public office. She hopes to inspire voters with the obstacles she has overcome, and promises to bring the same grit and determination to Albany that earned her a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2004. Continue Reading »

Officer’s home gets makeover

REDONDO BEACH – The workers came early, armed with buckets and shovels, laboring hard for a pair of cops and a baby most had never met.

On a quiet suburban street on Saturday, the crew of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” gave up their weekend for no added pay, no special perks, united in their goal to build a new home for wheelchair-bound Los Angeles Police Department Officer Kristina Ripatti and her family.

Ripatti, who carries a bullet in her spine after a fight with a robbery suspect four months ago, had spent her nights sleeping separately from her husband, fellow Officer Tim Pearce, and 20-month-old daughter Jordan. Continue Reading »

Finally, Buoniconti, Citadel reconcile

MIAMI — Marc Buoniconti’s spinal cord was crushed on a college football field nearly 21 years ago. His relationship with the Citadel was severed for almost as long. If asked years ago which would be mended first, he says he would have guessed wrong.

“I thought we’d cure paralysis first,” he says. “Not because I didn’t want to” restore school ties. “I just never saw it happening.” Continue Reading »

I hoped I’d be able to walk, says scam victim

Wheelchair-bound Justine Asher forked out R120 000 on what she believed was a “miracle” stem-cell cure that would allow her to walk again – only to learn that it had not been scientifically tested.

The 34-year-old Noordhoek mother of two has now stopped the treatment programme formulated by wanted Cape Town businessman Stephen van Rooyen, 44, and his American girlfriend Laura Brown, 35.

The couple have been accused of distributing untested stem-cell treatment drugs “without any basis in science”. Continue Reading »

Little by little, stem-cell supporters gaining ground

When Bernie Siegel started pushing for stem-cell research three years ago, the tide was moving decidedly in the other direction.

Laws were being proposed to put researchers in jail. To put patients in jail!

Now the momentum is running the other way — despite President Bush’s recent stem-cell veto, in which the war president showed his commitment to the sanctity of life by a stalwart defense of eight-cell embryos. Continue Reading »

UK research centre’s ‘IVF-for-eggs’ plan opens up debate on stem cell research

Leading UK-based Christian charity CARE has expressed concern at the recent Council of Europe decision to continue allowing EU taxpayers’ cash to fund embryonic stem cell research, where embryos already exist (often from IVF processes) for the next six years.

Calling for more funding to become available to expand research into adult stem cells, CARE reveals that there are more scientific results from adult stem cell research than research into embryonic stem cells. Continue Reading »