• “They Told Me I Would Never Walk Again!”
    Awake!—1990 | August 22

    • Ed urges all disabled persons to become as independent as possible. “Try your best to do it yourself,” he says, “and you will get a lot further.” That is why, when leaving the hospital, the first thing he did was to equip his car with hand controls so that he could drive. Now Ed even uses a specially equipped truck in his successful janitorial business.

      “Try to forget your disability,” advises Bill, “and go out and live your life as best as you can. If you do not act like a disabled person, people will not treat you like one.” Bill practices what he preaches. He has successfully owned and operated a business, getting around on his golf cart, in his wheelchair, and on crutches.

  • “They Told Me I Would Never Walk Again!”
    Awake!—1990 | August 22

    • Ed’s first reaction was different when he was told he would be permanently paralyzed. “I wasn’t discouraged, and the reason was my faith in the promises of God in the Bible. I realized that my condition may be permanent now but that it will not be permanent forever.” Because of the hope he has, Ed has been able to deal successfully with his disability for more than 25 years now.

  • “They Told Me I Would Never Walk Again!”
    Awake!—1990 | August 22

    • Bill had been a strong 200-pound [90 kg], six-foot-one-inch [185 cm] man, but now he was a mere 90-pound [40 kg] skeleton. He refused to believe that the image of the person in the mirror was his own. The experience ignited in him a fighting spirit to accept the challenge of his disability. “The first year of your disability is the critical time,” Bill says, “for that’s when you decide which way you are going to go.”

  • “They Told Me I Would Never Walk Again!”
    Awake!—1990 | August 22

    • Helps Available

      In recent years much progress has been made in many countries in providing help to the physically impaired. A vast array of organizations, products, and services are available to help them enjoy independent living. In many places, all one needs to do is look in the local telephone directory for information about these organizations and services.

      Many public buildings and facilities are now designed to accommodate disabled persons. Some airlines and travel agencies offer special tours for the disabled. And today quadriplegics may enjoy mobile independence in specially equipped cars and vans.

      Modern technology, which in some instances has made possible bypassing the function of damaged nerves, has enabled certain paralyzed persons to walk. Dr. J. Petrofsky, a pioneer researcher in the field, admits, however, that people may entertain false hopes regarding such technology. They may come to believe that it will enable anybody who is paralyzed to walk again. “All you can do is be honest,” Dr. Petrofsky says, “and try to tell them exactly the status of that research. You know, we’re not curing anything.”

      A True Cure

      Yet, a true and permanent cure of all physical disabilities will, in time, be realized. This certain hope of being able to walk again has sustained Ed and helped him cope with his disability all these years. The Bible’s promise is: “The eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness.”​—Isaiah 35:5, 6.

      The curing of all infirmities will be realized right here on earth when God’s Kingdom replaces the rule of all human governments. (Daniel 2:44) Indeed, God’s Kingdom, for which Christ taught his followers to pray, will usher in a new world wherein the Bible promise will also be fulfilled: “No resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”​—Isaiah 33:24; Matthew 6:9, 10.