www.youtube.com/embed/J7pK029MTs0 watch this 2 minute video "The Complicated Truth about Veterans Suicide"
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These videos were produced as part of a challenge to raise awareness that 22 veterans are likely to commit suicide daily, by doing 22 push-ups for 22 days. My friend Larry and I made 24 recordings together to include some messages and insights to attempt to shine light into the darkness.
https://www.facebook.com/575623799/videos/10157966398018800/ https://www.facebook.com/575623799/videos/10157963140593800/ |
Larry's Day 22 Vet suicide awareness - an amazing story about a suicide survivor named Mike that I met just 12 hours ago. On the video I wasn't sure when Mike actually was able to walk again, so I asked him via messaging. Here is his reply,"The paralysis left after I was healed from my cocaine addiction. The voice that I heard was before I got the use of my legs. His grace allowed me to just walk away from the crack addiction, which seemed to be stronger than the heroin addiction. In the paralysis, I began to realize how much I'd taken for granted. Like walking. Simple things that required legs. The Word told me to profess that which I wanted even without seeing results.
Just a little thing called faith.
I wanted to do all the things that I'd been able to do since learning to walk, shortly after birth like us all. I began to speak it. I spoke words of faith. I told others the things that I would do again. Like walk, run, and play tennis. Even though it wasn't happening, yet I believed His word. So I kept speaking it. Out loud and to anyone that listened. Eventually there was some movement in my toe. That was awesome. I had braces on both legs to prevent foot drop. My legs were like jello. My feet hung like loose flippers. There were no synaptic nerve firings, so they didn't work. Yet they burned all the time. It was a weird pain. A young friend began to take me to a gym daily. He said that studies showed that if I'd work my upper body, that eventually the messages would filter down to my legs. It began there. After some time I was able to use a walker. Then crutches, then a bike with crutches behind my back pack. I could ride the bike before I could walk. And then Roller blades, because those guys had great legs. I wanted mine back. I remember mom taking me to Kmart. I saw blades. I was in a wheelchair. I put a pair on. I held on to a shopping cart and took baby steps from the back of the store to the front of the store for checkout. I was drenched in sweat. By the time I made it to the counter. It all happened that way. The bike was put into a shop for repairs. It looked like therapy to me. They called when it was ready to be picked up. It was in the next city. I asked my mom to take me there and leave me. I promised her I'd make it back home. And I did. It. It was crazy because I couldn't really stop. I could not put weight on my legs without tmy crutches. It didn't work. Even though I had them with me. They were of no use. That was an adventure. I felt so free and fast!