posted January 29, 2007
) Jim MacLaren, champion disabled athlete, actor, motivational speaker, and college stand-out football and lacrosse star, will speak at the 4th annual “Possibilities: Siskin Hospital Celebrates Life Beyond Disability” luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 21. |
“Possibilities” is Siskin Hospital’s largest community-wide fund-raising event. Tickets to the event are $65. Patron and Crystal Patron tables of eight are available for $1,000 and $1,500.
Proceeds from “Possibilities” benefit Siskin Hospital’s Patient Assistance Fund, which provides more than $1 million every year in care for those without the means to pay for their treatment. For more information, call (423) 634-1208.
Mr. MacLaren has survived not one, but two devastating accidents, each of which could have easily sidelined him. Soon after graduating from Yale University, he landed a part on “Another World” and ventured to New York to begin his acting career. Returning home from a rehearsal, Mr. MacLaren was struck by a New York City bus and declared dead on arrival. After eight days in a coma, he awoke to find he’d lost his left leg below the knee.
Mr. MacLaren’s rehabilitation involved running and swimming, and he soon was entering and winning triathlons as one of the world’s fastest disabled athletes. He still holds records in the Hawaii Iron Man competition.
Then, on June 6, 1993, Mr. MacLaren’s life took another cruel turn. He was in Mission Viejo, Ca., racing another triathlon. Two miles into the bike leg, on a closed course, a traffic marshal misjudged Jim's speed approaching an intersection. The marshal directed a van to cross the street, and the van and Mr. MacLaren collided. Hurled into a signpost, Mr. MacLaren broke his neck at the C5 vertebrae, paralyzing him.
Slowly, Mr. MacLaren pulled himself back again, grappling with seemingly insurmountable obstacles and even reclaiming some motor function of his limbs. Most importantly, he fostered an inner force that enabled him to act in ways he couldn't as an able-bodied athlete. "It took two years of self study, going deep, and then deeper again," he says. "And, sometime in 2000-2001, I chose life."
Today Mr. MacLaren is a popular motivational speaker. He has completed two master’s degrees since his accidents and is pursuing a Ph.D. in mythology and depth psychology. In 2004 he was featured in the documentary film “Emmanuel’s Gift” narrated by Oprah Winfrey, and in 2005 he received the ESPY Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.
Howard and M. J. Levine are serving as honorary co-chairs for the event. The planning committee is co-chaired by Maxine Alper and Barbie Standefer.
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