The Incredible Journey

I read about this article from an old National Geographic magazine. It was only 2 pages but the story of this incredible journey has since made a huge impact on me. I wanted to write about this on my blog but i was hesitated. I got in touch with Ed Mulrenin, the guy in the photo. I was hoping for some comments and personal photos from him, but i am not getting any reply ever since i made that request. I guess he could be busy. Maybe there have been too many people asking the same question and he is getting pretty tired of it.

This story is about a man and a German shepherd, called Sonntag. In 1998, Sonntag injured his spinal cord while chasing a ball. Ed Mulrenin promised to Sonntag that he would not put him down simply because he was a paraplegic.

"I stuck by him as he would have me," says Mulrenin.

Many effort were tried just to get Sonntag walking again. Ed has to massage Sonntag's bladder so the dog could urinate. He got Sonntag a canine wheelchair and equipped their lives so that paralysis did not keep Sonntag from doing anything.

In August 2000, he replaced his Land Rover's front passenger seat with a custom built bed and took Sonntag on a 42 day, 12,500 miles trip to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The photo above shows that Ed was guiding Sonntag to walk in the snowy weather. And at the photo below, Ed and Sonntag stopped for a walk along the way.

Upon their return, Sonntag's health was failing. Sonntag was having serious arthritis problem and he could barely get up. Mulrenin decided to end Sonntag's life. He was grieving, but he was satisfied that he had not deprived the dog of a moment of pleasure.

"I made it to the finish line. I kept my promise."

Sonntag was euthanized on April 10, 2001. And Mulrenin vowed to Sonntag that someday he will return to Alaska to spread his ashes over the Artic Tundra to connect him forever with that incredible journey.

I couldn't pull my eyes away from the photo above when i was reading that article on the magazine. It was the moment when vet's injection took hold, and he whispered in Sonntag's ear : "We made it, buddy, we made it."

I was trying to feel Mulrenin's pain at that very moment. The photo shows the close connection between Mulrenin and Sonntag, man and his beloved dog. It must have felt like a dear member in the family has left.

I could recall the day when my dog left. He passed out a huge sigh, looking at me. That moment, stays strongly in my memory even after 20 years. Only those of us who has or had a dog understands that bond. Dog is not a pet. Dog could be a friend, a buddy, once you are able to connect with it.

Here is the last web update on April 10, 2001, from Ed Mulrenin about Sonntag :

http://www.dwdconsult.com/TJWebsite/Sonntag/New_E-Mail/new_e-mail.htm

A Violinist in the Metro Subway

I read upon this article from another blog :

It was a cold January morning in Washington DC Metro Station . He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3 years old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist.

Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.
This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes: The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.



He is Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He plays with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. It was just two days ago, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average cost was $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised : In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

We are always in a rush to live our lives. We rush in the morning to get to our workplace. We rush to finish our job. We rush to get home. Some may rush to pick up their kids after work and spend some time with their kids in the evening. We rush to go to sleep so that we have sufficient rest to get ready for tomorrow.

We are living in the fast lane. A day from 9-5 follow by another day of 9-5. We rush to get things done in the weekend. And we are back to 9-5, again. Have you ever stop for a moment on the road and noticed something beautiful ? Hardly, rarely, or ever ?

A senior once told me, slow down sometimes and smell the flowers. Perhaps i should. Perhaps we all should.

But can we really withdraw ourselves, even for a minute, from the daily mad rush in our lives ?

Would you happen to draw a blank in your mind, when you try to think of the wonderful and beautiful things that happened in your life for the past week ?

For more details of this incognito, interviews and reviews of passers-by, you may visit this particular article shown on Washington Post.

And you can watch this footage on YouTube.

Man cut in half lives to walk again

He is Peng Shulin, from the Province of Hunan in China. When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived. He survived against all the odds, with just 78cm left of his upper body, now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again.

It took a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life. Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso. Bedridden for years, doctors had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life agan. But he is a tough guy. He kept a regular exercise with his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth.

Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Peng's plight and started to come up with a plan to get him walk again. They introduced an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, by creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it.

Without much difficulties, he took his first steps around the centre with his specially adapted legs and, a resized walking frame. He is finally able to walk again after spending 12 years in bed.

Peng is now operating a convenient store with his wife.

Recalling back his bedridden days, Peng said that the thought of committing suicide had troubled his mind. He was, definately found it difficult to accept what was happening to him. However, he said, "My wife didn't leave me, she stayed and took care of me, day and night, how could i have the heart to kill myself ?" He also said, "I have lost half of my body, i am not going to waste what's left with me."

I've choosen his story to be the first article on my blog. His adventure in life has created an impact in my thought ever since i came to read about it on the net several months ago. He had his misfortune. He had it bad. But i admire his strength & his determination. You can see from the photos, he shows much confidence in his face while trying to rebuild his life by learning to walk again with the adapted legs.

In my opinion, he has been given a 2nd life. He was rebirthed, to feel and experience a different perspective in life.