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On Oct. 11, Christopher Reeve brought his message of hope and encouragement to St. Louis for the "Gateway to a Cure" benefit for spinal cord injury research sponsored by HealthSouth, Pucks of Power and Saint Louis University.
With Jack Buck serving as master of ceremonies, the benefit dinner recognized nine outstanding people, each of whom had been touched by spinal cord injury in a unique way. Awardees included artist Doug Landis (No Barriers Award); Rep. Chuck Graham, a democrat in the Missouri House of Representatives (Community Re-Entry Award); Penny Lorenz-Bailey, assistant coordinator for HEADS UP USA (Personal Achievement Award); Roger Dixon, vice president/general manager of the Kiel Center (St. Louis Disability Employment Awareness Award); Dr. Xiao Ming Xu, Saint Louis University School of Medicine researcher in anatomy and neurobiology (Research for Freedom Award); para-olympian Doug Heir (Human Spirit Award); Max Starkloff, president of Paraquad (Citizenship Award); Christopher Reeve (Pucks of Power Award) and Dana Reeve (Supportive Heart Award).
Awardees spoke of their unwillingness to be sidelined by injuries and their optimism that spinal cord injury research will lead to a cure. "It is a life-long dream and goal of mine personally to see that this takes place," Lorenz-Bailey said. "I'm a total believer in the research that is being done for spinal cord injury. I have always kept a positive approach and attitude, knowing Ñ not thinking or believing Ñ but knowing, that some day they will find a cure for these injuries."
The evening's most profound moments came during Christopher Reeve's speech. Reeve was typical of the awardees who demonstrated how people physically able to do less are capable of doing more.
To support "Gateway to a Cure" or Xu's research on spinal cord regeneration, call Patricia Rogers-Cassens at 577-8677.