News about Ari

On 5 May 2005 06:18:59 -0700, "riverman" wrote:

Got this in an email today:
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 4th May 2005

There is good news to be told ! the sticks have moved
out, Ari can walk


Good news, indeed. Too bad about the confusion he's got, but he may
get out of that, too.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)

Well, being *aware* that you are confused is a damn site better
cognition than many people I know who weren't in a coma. And being able
to try and express it lucidly is a step above that...

The email also included a photo of him walking....shocking image to
see. When he and I fished together 2 years ago, he was a strapping,
strutting confident guy, only a little shorter than me (I'm 6'4", he
was about 6'1") but with a presence that made him seem much taller. His
TV show and business was rocketing upwards, so he had that self-assured
cockiness of someone using sponsored gear, wearing sponsored clothing,
driving a sponsored car and enjoying a growing celebrity popularity. He
had very big arms, strong legs, and we rockhopped the big boulders
below a dam with ease.

But in the picture, he has shrunk many inches....he looks only to be
about 5'6", his legs and arms are shrivelled to straws, his hands and
wrists are 'hooked' from disuse, and he looks anything but
self-confident and cocky. And he was being cared for and nursed by the
same people to whom he was the provider and boss of only a short while
ago. It was a sharp and severe reminder of how fast it can all change.
I will be astounded if he regains the level that he was at when he had
the accident. It was a long way down, its a long way back up.

--riverman