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Scientists like Young are also experiencing more optimism about their work than ever before. The new discoveries may be coincidental with Reeve's injury, but they are given greater enthusiasm because of it. "Where we are right now," Reeve says, "is that the stage has been set. Awareness of spinal-cord injury is at an all-time high. People now understand that something that was thought incurable can be cured. The politicians are motivated, the scientists are motivated, the public is showing concern, and everything is prepared to push to a successful conclusion. Now the question is how to keep the momentum going, making sure that people don't fall by the wayside."
He tilts his angle so that he is nearly straight up in the chair. He looks as if he is about to step forward. "If all the people who are around to help me were mad at me or in a lousy mood or whatever," he says, "and they went away, and they didn't want to feed me or didn't want to clean me or didn't want to put me in a bed or get me out of a bed, there'd be nothing I could do about it. Absolutely nothing. But their compassion, their involvement causes them to put a fork in my mouth, and I take a bite of food. Or turn me over in the bed so I don't get a sore. Or get my blood pressure down when I have dysreflexia. Basically, it comes down to goodwill. Nobody has to do any of those things; I'm completely dependent on them.
"And I feel the same thing about working in the political arena. Nobody has to come up with more money or basically give a damn about people who are in dire straits or suffering. And yet I believe in the goodness of people to the extent that if you can present your case properly, they will respond, that people are at heart compassionate and will respond. What you have to do, I think, is remove the fear in them. The fear that they might be making a mistake. They don't want to make mistakes. They don't want to come out in support of something that will make them look bad. And what I'm trying to do is remove their fear, to make them feel safe to care.
"When Kennedy made that promise, I mean...what chutzpa to do that! Promise to do what other people say is impossible; I guess that's what leadership is. What's the adage? 'Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world'? Well, I'm not comparing myself to the world's leaders. And I can't stand yet. But give me a place to sit."
Reeve undertakes one other exercise program three or four times a week, in which he is brought as close to a standing position as possible. He is carried from his chair to a tilt table by two women nurses and a male trainer. He is placed on a surface that can be cranked up as high as he will go for his body to bear its own dead weight.
One morning he starts out at 50 [degrees] and holds that position for 10 or 15 minutes. The pillow behind his head is removed, and he holds his head straight. Now he is brought up to a 65[degree] angle. His sats are 97, his heart rate 94. The heart rate is going up because his body is supporting 215 lbs.
At 75 [degrees], he looks as if he is nearly upright. This is as high as he has ever gone. He looks out the window of his gym at Will's playhouse and at the daffodils and the pines. He goes to 78 [degrees]. When he reaches his personal record of 80 [degrees], he stops. The nurses are staring at him in amazement. His trainer remarks with admiration how tall he is.