198 / Spotlightn the summer of 1985, MikeHamer had his immediatefuture planned to an ideal.After graduating from ECU in1984, Hamer planned to begina lecturerTs position with theECU English department inAugust of 1985. During the| year preceding his anticipated| job, Hamer spent six months inNicaragua as a Witness forPeace volunteer, and upon hisreturn to Greenville he wasready to step into his job aslecturer. Then the unexpectedhappened. The day before Hamerwas to begin work, he spent the dayat WhichardTs Beach. Unwittingly,he dived into shallow water,immediately broke his neck andsustained instant paralysis.Now Hamer is a quadriplegic,paralyzed from the chest down. Buthe doesnTt let this setback get himdown. He has a good deal of mobilityin his arms and is recuperating at PittMemorial HospitalTs RegionalRehabilitation Center. Says Hamer,The staff is supportive here; Theywork us hard " real hard " butthatTs their job, and thatTs what weTrehere for.T He considers the physicaltherapy sessions extremelyimportant since he wants to do asmuch for himself as possible. ITmjust an old bachelor, and ITm used tomy independence,? says Hamer.ItTs just like starting all over. Thereare a lét of frustrations for mebecause I was so active.?Stil, the paralysis hasnTt slowedHamer very much. Once a student, amusician, a writer, a teacher, aVISTA volunteer, and a politicalactivist Hamer looks forward tocontinuing his interests. Although hehopes to return to his music, heclaims he can no longer play theguitar. But he contends, *... ITmlearning to play an instrument called10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1718_ and raised over $5,000 to help coverthe hammer dulcimer that mainlyinvolves wrist action. ITll just have toexplore some new dimensions.?For now Hamer is pursuing hisspecialty in writing. During the firsttwo months after his accident, he wasencouraged to strengthen his arms bywriting. Since then he has been.moved to a wheelchair and can use atypewriter. ITm learning to typewith sticks attached to cuffs, but thatshouldnTt be too difficult,? Hamersays. ~ThatTs the whole thing " tokeep learning to do the little things.?One of the ~little things? that waslearned and has continued to mountare medical bills. At the time of theaccident, Hamer was not officiallyemployed so none of his medicalexpenses were covered by insurance.Nonetheless, the northern Vermontnative did not despair. Hamer is wellrespected by friends and the facultyat ECU, and he is considered afavorite among his students, so thebenefit concert held in November of1985 was quite natural. The concert,held at a local night club, wasorganized by a group of his friendssome of his hospital costs. Another$800 was raised by the ECU Englishdepartment for the production of analbum of HamerTs songs that will besold in order to generate more moneyto cover his costs.Now that HamerTs life is morestable, he is eager to return home andget back to his garden. Says Hamer,ITm an avid gardener, and itTsalways been good for me to haveplants in the ground. I also hope toget back into being politically active.I guess I am still active to whateverdegree I can be.?Information provided from aninterview conducted by the ECUNews Bureau staff which appeared inthe ECU Report.Pho;19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26