An edited version of the following article appeared in The Ottawa Citizen on Sunday, July 29, 2001

Mike's spirit gives me hope for my son

Mike Nemesvary
'Round the World Challenge

Mike Nemesvary, a former champion freestyle skier, is attempting to become the first quadriplegic to drive around the world - a 40,000 kilometer trek to raise funds for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.

The Team is now in Australia, more than half-way around the world.

Roger Greenberg, President of Minto Developments Inc, has been an active supporter of the Challenge. Roger joined the Challenge team from Italy to Turkey and recalls his experience.

What am I doing here?

It’s about 6 am on Friday April 27th and I am sitting in the front passenger seat of a heavily modified 1991 Chevy Blazer on the way through the mountains of Northern Greece. The driver of the vehicle is Mike Nemesvary. Mike cannot feel his body below his upper chest. A former world champion skier, Mike’s brain lost control over more than 90% of his body after a training accident 16 years ago that severed his spinal cord. He drives by controlling the limited parts of his body that do respond to his brain, namely his shoulders, biceps, head and neck.

There are three obvious answers to the question. The first is that at 45 years of age, I am going through a mid-life crisis. Hmmm, hard to respond to that one objectively. The second is that this is simply an extension of my involvement in many community activities, albeit of a somewhat more extreme nature. The third is that I have an eight year old son with Cerebral Palsy, a condition he has had since birth when his brain was damaged as a result of being deprived of oxygen shortly before or during delivery. Like Mike, barring an unforeseen miracle, my son will never walk or have a great deal of control over his body.

I first met Mike three years ago when he was in the early stages of planning his Challenge and was looking for a company to donate some space. Then, last December, at a fundraising dinner held in Ottawa, I was privileged to listen to both Mike and Christopher Reeve talk about their efforts to raise money for spinal cord research. This was one of the most inspirational nights of my life. Shortly thereafter I approached Mike to ask him if I could join him on the road. After recovering from his initial shock, Mike quickly agreed to my request.

So here I am, seeing all these pretty little monuments along the side of the road when it suddenly dawns on me that they are memorials to people who have died in those locations. And I’m in a vehicle being driven by a quadriplegic! In truth, though, Mike drives so carefully that during a lull in the conversation in mid-morning, I actually doze off for a few moments. At another point, Mike lowers his voice as he asks me, in an almost pleading way, whether it’s okay for him to admit that part of the reason that he is trying to raise funds for spinal cord research is that he hopes that one day there will be a cure for his own condition. Somehow, Mike feels that such an admission will taint people’s view of the otherwise altruistic purpose of the trip. I assure Mike that most people who are involved in community activities have some personal motivation behind their involvement. He seemed greatly relieved to hear that.

At yet another point, we compare the disabled worlds that each of us live in. Certainly, there are similarities. Both Mike and my son can’t get out of bed themselves. Both require assistance to perform the everyday tasks that the rest of us take for granted - like bowel movements, eating and moving about. But there are many differences. My son is able to feel his entire body; he just can’t control it. If you tickle his feet, he will laugh. Mike won’t feel anything. My son also suffers a significant cognitive impairment whereas Mike’s brain is as fully functioning as mine.

As I sit in the Frankfurt airport on my way home after spending nine days with Mike, I have a warm feeling in my stomach about the trip. And I think I know why. Mike has accepted his disability in a way that I haven’t really been able to do for my son. All the usual dreams that a parent has for a child were crushed when the doctors confirmed, at nine months of age, what my wife and I had begun to suspect about our son a few weeks earlier. Mike did not choose this life nor did my son. Neither can ever take a vacation from their disability. Yet Mike maintains a joie de vivre that I find terrific. Sure, he has his off moments, as I observed on the trip. In that way, Mike is exactly like everyone else. But seeing how Mike is combining the use of technology with the indominitability of the human spirit in the face of crushing circumstances, he gives me hope for the life that my son will live.

And now that I’ve been back in Canada for almost three months, I am doing my best to fulfill my promise to Mike to personally do all that I can to assist the ‘Round The World Challenge to achieve it’s mission.

To get involved or to donate to the ‘Round The World Challenge, please visit our web site at http://www.roundtheworldchallenge.com or contact the office at 613-274-7955.