[nfbmi-talk] just a nice story

[joe harcz Comcast]

Yup, and even with good skills sometimes folks with diabetes do feint.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christine Boone" <christineboone2 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] just a nice story


> You know what, this is an excellent story. Just a little pathos but not 
> overdone.  Very appropriate and Mr. Williams sounds like a wonderful man 
> with a high degree of independence.  Think how many people he educates as 
> he hurries through those New York Streets. He might even be able to keep 
> up with our own Terri Wilcox and Lary Keeler!
>
> Boone Christine Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Dec 19, 2013, at 12:13 PM, "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Donations Allow Blind Man To Keep Aging Guide Dog. By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ. 
>> For over seven years, Cecil Williams and his guide dog, Orlando, have 
>> been inseparable
>>
>> companions, the dog leading his master onto buses and subway cars and 
>> through the everyday flood of pedestrians along the streets of New York. 
>> When Mr.
>>
>> Williams, who is blind, fell with Orlando onto the track bed at a Harlem 
>> subway station on Tuesday morning, the dog stayed with him, even as an 
>> uptown
>>
>> express train rumbled into the station and over them.. Both had only 
>> minor injuries, and Mr. Williams, 60, later credited the dog with helping 
>> to save
>>
>> his life. But with Orlando scheduled to retire from service next month, 
>> Mr. Williams worried he would be unable to afford to keep him without 
>> insurance
>>
>> subsidies. On Wednesday, Mr. Williams learned that he and Orlando, an 
>> 11-year-old black Labrador, will be able to remain together indefinitely. 
>> Guiding
>>
>> Eyes for the Blind, a Westchester County organization trained Orlando, 
>> announced that it had received enough donations for Mr. Williams to 
>> afford to keep
>>
>> his dog as a pet after he retires. Choking back tears with Orlando lying 
>> by his wheelchair, Mr. Williams called the news a 'blessing' and a 
>> 'miracle. 'The
>>
>> spirit of giving, Christmas and all of that, exists -- it's in New York,' 
>> he said in a news conference at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, 
>> where he
>>
>> is convalescing. 'I think it's a time to rejoice. Mr. Williams and 
>> Orlando were paired in August 2006, in part because both preferred to 
>> walk at a rapid
>>
>> New York pace, said Michelle Brier, a spokeswoman for Guiding Eyes for 
>> the Blind. But it was their docile, laid-back personalities that seemed 
>> to seal
>>
>> the bond between them. 'He's a gentleman; he's a gentle soul,' Mr. 
>> Williams said. 'Me and him are similar that way. As the two traversed the 
>> city's streets,
>>
>> Orlando's job was to guide and protect, and he would typically cut in 
>> front of Mr. Williams before he could step into traffic or off a ledge, 
>> Mr. Williams
>>
>> said. The two companions were waiting at the 125th Street subway station 
>> at St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem when Mr. Williams, who is diabetic, felt 
>> faint.
>>
>> When he began to fall, he said, Orlando tried to tug him back from the 
>> ledge. Both fell into the track bed and managed to escape being crushed 
>> by a train
>>
>> by crouching in the trench between the rails. Orlando, whose black fur 
>> has started to turn somewhat gray around his mouth, has shown signs of 
>> slowing down
>>
>> in the last few months, his trainer, Jessy DiNapoli, said. Guide dogs 
>> typically work until they are 8 to 10 years old, though they frequently 
>> serve beyond
>>
>> that, Ms. Brier said. Mr. Williams is scheduled to be released from the 
>> hospital on Thursday, and in a few weeks he will meet his new guide dog. 
>> Orlando,
>>
>> meanwhile, now has a new challenge: learning how to be a pet. 'He's a 
>> senior citizen,' Mr. Williams said. 'He's looking forward to enjoying 
>> life now. PHOTO:
>>
>> Cecil Williams, 60, and his guide dog, Orlando, 11, at St. 
>> Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center on Wednesday. The day before, they 
>> survived a fall onto the
>>
>> tracks at a subway station in Harlem. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL APPLETON FOR 
>> THE NEW YORK TIMES).
>>
>>
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