thedrifter
12-27-07, 10:00 AM
12/27/2007
Our View: Colin Smith a beacon of strength and hope for all who face adversity
Strength. Strength to survive. Strength to overcome long odds. Strength to cope with overwhelming adversity. Strength to hope for a better future. And strength to work hard at making that future happen.
So many people in this world need that kind of strength on any given day. For those who are seeking it, we recommend reading our Christmas Day story about the phenomenal recovery of 20-year-old Colin Smith, a living example of all those forms of strength, and more. If you don't have the newspaper handy, just go to our Web site, www.morningjournal.com, and click on the word ''GO'' next to the search box at the top right-hand side of the page, then scroll down through the archived stories and click on the headline for Colin's story: ''Always smiling.''
Colin was shot in the head while on patrol with fellow U.S. Marines in Iraq on Oct. 30, 2006. That terrible wound cost him a large portion of his brain and skull, and the fact that he survived at all would qualify as a miracle in most anybody's book. But Colin has done far more than merely survive.
Quick action by fellow soldiers and military surgeons undoubtedly saved his life. But doctors then told his family that Colin would likely spend the rest of his days in a vegetative state and never walk or talk again.
Colin's strength took over where modern medicine dared not presume to go.
First, Colin regained consciousness. He spent nearly a year in hospitals, but now he is living in Lorain with his father, who is devoted to helping him regain his faculties.
Today, as the headline said, Colin is always smiling. He is relearning how to walk and to talk, and he is determined to relearn how to read and to drive a car.
Considering the amazing recovery he has achieved to date, we can believe he will achieve his goals.
Equally amazing and gratifying, Colin says he forgives the man who shot him. That perhaps shows the greatest strength of all at work in Colin.
They say there are no heroes anymore, but they have never met Colin Smith. He's a true American hero, and for his service to our country, for his remarkable physical strength and his profound inner strength, we humbly want to say thank you, Colin. By your example, you give all of us strength and hope. Good luck.
Ellie
Our View: Colin Smith a beacon of strength and hope for all who face adversity
Strength. Strength to survive. Strength to overcome long odds. Strength to cope with overwhelming adversity. Strength to hope for a better future. And strength to work hard at making that future happen.
So many people in this world need that kind of strength on any given day. For those who are seeking it, we recommend reading our Christmas Day story about the phenomenal recovery of 20-year-old Colin Smith, a living example of all those forms of strength, and more. If you don't have the newspaper handy, just go to our Web site, www.morningjournal.com, and click on the word ''GO'' next to the search box at the top right-hand side of the page, then scroll down through the archived stories and click on the headline for Colin's story: ''Always smiling.''
Colin was shot in the head while on patrol with fellow U.S. Marines in Iraq on Oct. 30, 2006. That terrible wound cost him a large portion of his brain and skull, and the fact that he survived at all would qualify as a miracle in most anybody's book. But Colin has done far more than merely survive.
Quick action by fellow soldiers and military surgeons undoubtedly saved his life. But doctors then told his family that Colin would likely spend the rest of his days in a vegetative state and never walk or talk again.
Colin's strength took over where modern medicine dared not presume to go.
First, Colin regained consciousness. He spent nearly a year in hospitals, but now he is living in Lorain with his father, who is devoted to helping him regain his faculties.
Today, as the headline said, Colin is always smiling. He is relearning how to walk and to talk, and he is determined to relearn how to read and to drive a car.
Considering the amazing recovery he has achieved to date, we can believe he will achieve his goals.
Equally amazing and gratifying, Colin says he forgives the man who shot him. That perhaps shows the greatest strength of all at work in Colin.
They say there are no heroes anymore, but they have never met Colin Smith. He's a true American hero, and for his service to our country, for his remarkable physical strength and his profound inner strength, we humbly want to say thank you, Colin. By your example, you give all of us strength and hope. Good luck.
Ellie