QuadSquad
09-17-2005, 12:16 AM
DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES FOR TECHNOLOGY
500 Fox Ridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63131
www.DRAFT.cc
314-965-4938
September 16, 2005
PRESS RELEASE: DRAFT to honor two American heroes wounded in Iraq.
On September 22, 3:30 p.m. Room 385 in the Russell Senate Office Building, United States Army Staff Sergeant Hilbert Caesar, and United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Keith Davis will be honored for their service to our country.
On April 18, 2004, Staff Sergeant Caesar of South Ozone Park, New York attached to the 4th Battalion 27th Field Artillery, was traveling in a convoy outside of Baghdad Iraq when anti-coalition forces detonated four bombs buried on the side of the road. In that explosion, Sergeant Caesar lost his right leg. Despite his pain and the extreme nature of his injury, Caesar refused to use a wheelchair during his stay at Walter Reed. He has been an inspiration to fellow soldiers inspiring them to find the will to walk again standing tall by his side.
Seven months after his injury Sergeant Caesar competed, using a hand crank wheelchair, in the New York City marathon completing the race in 1 hour 53 minutes 4 seconds, and one year to the day after his injury he finished the Boston Marathon.
On August 2, 2005, 22 year old Lance Corporal Keith Davis, Lumberton, Texas while serving a third tour of duty in Iraq, a duty for which he volunteered, was shot through his back while on patrol. The bullet pierced his abdomen and shattered his femur and hip socket. After valiant attempts to save his leg at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Corporal Davis's leg was amputated this week on Tuesday September 13, 2005.
Senator Jim Talent will present to each of the honorees, a Segway HT, a mobility device that DRAFT believes will dramatically improve the quality of their life.
Disability Rights Advocates For Technology, "DRAFT", is an organization which is dedicated to promoting the use of the principles of Universal Design and new technology. Products and environments created using these principles allow people with disabilities and senior citizens to live lives with greater independence, productivity and inclusion into the community and workforce.
The Segway HT is an extraordinary example of this philosophy. While created using the principles of universal design, the possibility of its benefit to people who have difficulty walking was never contemplated. The Segway has for the first time provided an option for people who can stand but have difficulty walking. Because the Segway is used by marathoners and amputees alike, its use does not draw attention to one's disability. Today in the United States the Segway is used by people with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amputations, spinal cord injuries, scoliosis, spina bifida, COPD and other conditions.
There are more than 20 million people in the United States who have difficulty walking, a number which is expected to increase dramatically with the continued aging of the baby boomer generation.
CONTACT: Jerry Kerr, Founder, Disability Rights Advocates For Technology, 314-965-4938, Cell-314-603-4672, email gkerr@DRAFT.cc.
500 Fox Ridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63131
www.DRAFT.cc
314-965-4938
September 16, 2005
PRESS RELEASE: DRAFT to honor two American heroes wounded in Iraq.
On September 22, 3:30 p.m. Room 385 in the Russell Senate Office Building, United States Army Staff Sergeant Hilbert Caesar, and United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Keith Davis will be honored for their service to our country.
On April 18, 2004, Staff Sergeant Caesar of South Ozone Park, New York attached to the 4th Battalion 27th Field Artillery, was traveling in a convoy outside of Baghdad Iraq when anti-coalition forces detonated four bombs buried on the side of the road. In that explosion, Sergeant Caesar lost his right leg. Despite his pain and the extreme nature of his injury, Caesar refused to use a wheelchair during his stay at Walter Reed. He has been an inspiration to fellow soldiers inspiring them to find the will to walk again standing tall by his side.
Seven months after his injury Sergeant Caesar competed, using a hand crank wheelchair, in the New York City marathon completing the race in 1 hour 53 minutes 4 seconds, and one year to the day after his injury he finished the Boston Marathon.
On August 2, 2005, 22 year old Lance Corporal Keith Davis, Lumberton, Texas while serving a third tour of duty in Iraq, a duty for which he volunteered, was shot through his back while on patrol. The bullet pierced his abdomen and shattered his femur and hip socket. After valiant attempts to save his leg at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Corporal Davis's leg was amputated this week on Tuesday September 13, 2005.
Senator Jim Talent will present to each of the honorees, a Segway HT, a mobility device that DRAFT believes will dramatically improve the quality of their life.
Disability Rights Advocates For Technology, "DRAFT", is an organization which is dedicated to promoting the use of the principles of Universal Design and new technology. Products and environments created using these principles allow people with disabilities and senior citizens to live lives with greater independence, productivity and inclusion into the community and workforce.
The Segway HT is an extraordinary example of this philosophy. While created using the principles of universal design, the possibility of its benefit to people who have difficulty walking was never contemplated. The Segway has for the first time provided an option for people who can stand but have difficulty walking. Because the Segway is used by marathoners and amputees alike, its use does not draw attention to one's disability. Today in the United States the Segway is used by people with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amputations, spinal cord injuries, scoliosis, spina bifida, COPD and other conditions.
There are more than 20 million people in the United States who have difficulty walking, a number which is expected to increase dramatically with the continued aging of the baby boomer generation.
CONTACT: Jerry Kerr, Founder, Disability Rights Advocates For Technology, 314-965-4938, Cell-314-603-4672, email gkerr@DRAFT.cc.