Home | Forward | Contact Info DECEMBER, 1986
SCOTT GOES TO SEE PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING One
day during Scott's hospitalization in November, 1986, I had to go to
my dentist in Long Island. On the way back to the hospital, I passed the Nassau Coliseum
and noticed that professional wrestling would be there on December 1.
I didn't even know whether Scott would be out of the hospital
by that time or even if he was out, whether it was possible for him to
go out so soon, especially to a crowded wrestling arena with narrow
seats reached by steep stairs. Shortly
however, my curiosity led me to the ticket window. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Nassau Coliseum
had a special handicapped section easily accessible by elevator from
the ground floor. Instead
of narrow seats which had been removed, spaces for wheelchairs had
been marked out on the floor and two tickets were good for one
reserved handicapped space together with a chair for an attendant.
The management even were thoughtful enough to provide nearby
accessible bathroom facilities and a hot dog stand; and best of all,
the handicapped section was located in the first mezzanine, with full
visibility of the ring, no matter how many fans stood up to cheer in
front. I quickly bought
two tickets. I thought
that this would be a good incentive for Scott to recuperate quickly
and leave the hospital sooner than later.
At the hospital, when I told Scott about the tickets, at first
he seemed very pessimistic but soon, I noticed that he was more eager
to practice walking. I
contacted a NYS Deputy Athletic Commissioner who had gone to the
Cornell Law School with me and he arranged to have us come to the
dressing room on the night of the bouts to meet the wrestlers in
person. Scott left the
hospital on November 26, 1986 with his new companion, a metal walker
and we rented a wheelchair for him.
It was going to be new and interesting adapting to Scott's new
role as a handicapped person; but we were all hopeful that it would
only be temporary. When
I came home from the office on December 1, Scott seemed rather quiet.
We had a quick dinner because it was raining and I wanted to
get out to the arena before the first match.
Scott was filled with apprehension.
Maybe we shouldn't go? How
will I get to my seat? Someone
will knock into me and I'll fall and hurt myself?
How will you transfer me from the wheelchair to the car and
vice versa? I didn't have
all of the answers but was determined to accomplish taking Scott out
for an evening. If we
didn't do it now, we would never do it and that thought was
unacceptable. Somehow, I
got Scott into his wheelchair by myself and then into the car.
On the way to the arena traffic was heavy in the rain and we
were delayed by several accidents on route. We thought we would never
get there. We finally
arrived at the arena and were directed to handicapped parking in the
parking lot very close to the entrance.
Later, when we came out, we found a parking ticket on the car.
We hadn't realized that you need a special permit to park in
the handicapped section. Inside,
we were escorted to an elevator and shortly found ourselves parked in
the handicapped section enjoying the evening's wrestling matches.
Scott was excited and yelled at the wrestlers as he did at home
watching them on television. At
the end of the fifth bout, we went down to the dressing room area
where we were introduced to the wrestlers [Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff
[Mr. Wonderful], Cowboy Bob Orton, George [the Animal] Steele, Natural
[Butch] Reed, Tito Santana, Koko B. Ware, Herculez Hernandez, Harley
[the King] Race, Hillbilly Jim, Siva Afi, Iron Mike Sharpe, Lanny Offo,
Honky-Tonk Man, B. Brian Blair, Jumpin Jim Brunzell, Rex Moondog, Spot
Moondog, Jacques Rougau, Raymond Rougau and the Islanders]. They
couldn't have been nicer and kinder to Scott. They autographed his
program and took pictures with him. Hulk Hogan was particularly warm and friendly although you
wouldn't have expected it at first.
As he approached, Scott recognized him immediately and said
"Hello Mr. Hogan, can you do me a favor, can you autograph my
program?" Hogan,
looking mean and tough, at six foot six inches and 302 pounds, stood
over Scott's wheelchair and roared "get out of your wheelchair
and walk first." Before
my shock wore off, Scott immediately responded "O.K., Dad will
you get me my walker and help me out of this wheelchair?"
Hogan quickly bent down and hugged Scott and told him in a soft
voice that he was only kidding - But Scott insisted that he must get
out of his wheelchair to prove to Hulk Hogan that he could walk.
The evening was a memorable one and on the way home in the car,
Scott was very talkative and cheerful.
He said "Dad, I met all those famous wrestlers in person -
I'll never be the same again."
I responded "Scott, I did too, I'll never be the same
again either." When
we got home, Scott couldn't stop talking about the evening.
He told his mother every last detail and although she was not
particularly fond of professional wrestling, she listened avidly
because she was so happy that Scott had had a good time. The
evening out was so successful and we had been so worried that
something would go wrong. As
Rena and I talked about it later when we were alone, we decided that
we wanted Scott to feel that he could do many of the things with us
that we used to do before. We
thought that taking Scott to the Dalton School to see his classmates
would be good for all of them and perhaps a visit to FAO SCHWARZ, the
famous toy store in the GM Building on Fifth Avenue would be exciting
for him. Then we worried about how we would get him there since
parking the car in Manhattan, especially that time of the year, was
impossible. We solved it
by contacting the local police precinct and the commander was only too
happy to send over a police car to take Scott around.
The kids at Dalton were really excited to see Scott and he too
enjoyed seeing them also. They
had milk and cookies in the lunchroom and then we were off to the toy
store. At FAO SCHWARZ,
Scott had a ball being wheeled around in his wheelchair.
He must have inspected every new toy in the place and went home
with quite a few packages. SCOTT GOES TO FLORIDA AND
MEXICO We
were so pleased with all these excursions that Rena suggested that we
take Scott to Florida to visit my mother and then back to Cancun,
Mexico, over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
I was somewhat apprehensive.
When Dr. Gold was presented with the idea, he thought we were
crazy. "What happens
if something goes wrong while you are down there," he said.
Rena wouldn't hear of not going.
She said that Scott deserved a "do over" since our Christmas
vacation in 1985 in Cancun, Mexico, was somewhat marred by
Scott's back pain. What
clinched our going [and am I glad we did] was the fact that Scott
wanted very much to go. I
worried not only about being far from his doctors but also about the
logistics of traveling with a child in a wheelchair.
I thought that its enough trouble worrying about three people
and baggage, no less a wheelchair and a walker also.
But Rena and Scott were adamant.
We were going to go to Florida and also to Cancun, Mexico.
Rena was so confidant about the trip that she arranged it so
that we would spend several days in Florida with my mother both at the
beginning and at the end of the trip.
When I saw the tickets, I couldn't believe it - four different
flights and eight different taxi or car transfers with a child in a
wheelchair. I took our
dog Mookie [a Yorkshire Terrier] over to the Animal Medical Center and
left him with the head nurse who used to board him for us at her home
when we went away, and we went out to the airport in a hired station
wagon without great difficulty. I'm
pleased to be able to write that our Christmas, 1986 trip to Florida
and Cancun, Mexico was the easiest trip we ever took.
People couldn't have been nicer or kinder every where we went.
Travelers and airline and hotel employees and taxi drivers
everywhere constantly offered to assist me in moving Scott in his
wheelchair when I couldn't do it myself.
For example, when we were leaving the plane upon arrival in
Cancun, we realized that the airline had rolled up a steep portable
staircase to the plane. Scott
seemed frozen with fear as two Mexican airline employees carried him
down the stairs. By the
time the trip had ended he had become so used to it, when they carried
him up the stairs to the plane, his thumbs were up and he was smiling
broadly. The
trip was simply wonderful for all of us.
During the day, after breakfast, Scott would lie on a lounge at
pool side and draw or read or snooze.
Strangely, it was windy and cool in Mexico and he never got
into the pool. In Miami
however, the pool was heated and you couldn't get Scott out of it.
It was marvelous to watch him in the water.
Because of the buoyancy of the water, despite his physical
handicap which prevented him from walking unassisted on land, in the
water, Scott could walk with his hands in the air without being held
and without the walker. It
gave him such confidence. I'm
sure that it convinced Scott that he would be able to walk again and
he spent many a determined moment practicing with the aid of his
walker. Both
in Miami and in Cancun, we took Scott to restaurants, to the movies
and shopping. How he
loved to shop. As was our
family practice, when we went on trips, Scott always had his own
traveller's checks which he was supposed to use for his own shopping
[i.e., toys, books, etc.]. Often
however, either Rena or I would pay for what he purchased rather than
require him to use his own traveler's checks.
We recently found a quantity of uncashed traveler's checks
bearing Scott's signature. There
was one sad event that occurred during this trip while we were away.
Scott's little "Mookie" was killed by a passing car
or truck while in the care of the lady who boarded him for us.
Scott was naturally upset and angry since he loved the dog a
great deal. What
surprised me was the fact that Rena took the loss even worse than
Scott. She cried for days
and said that the death of Mookie was a bad omen.
Little did we know then how right she was.
We talked briefly about replacing Mookie with another dog but
somehow this issue got placed on the back burner. |