newsletters

April 1, 2005

News from the front:

Spring is rolling into full swing here in the beautiful little burg of Carlsbad and bringing with it the birth of new and interesting chapters in my life.

While continuing a strong focus on regular physical workouts I have also begun to exercise by getting out and about more often. This means that I am spending a great deal more time in my manual wheelchair, strengthening my arms and torso as I learn to push myself around and maintain a balanced upright position.

Aside from improving my physical strength and stamina, my new-found enjoyment of activities outside the home are stimulating in so many ways. I am spending a lot more time with friends, learning more what inspires them, laughing, and growing together. I am taking in nutrition class (I and five friends) with a homeopathic nutritionist, Dr. David (yes his real name) Getoff and exploring new and interesting things such as flotation tanks, Leadership Studies, Paragliding, and biodynamic farming.

Of great influence and facilitation in these new explorations and growth is my dear friend Heather. When I was first released from the hospital, emaciated, pale, intravenous tubing protruding from my arm, drenched with sweat resulting from malicious infection, and generally worn down, I made my way to Project Walk where I met Heather.

What an amusing encounter that was, in retrospect. We were both a little shocked, and timid... she, thinking that at any moment one of my limbs might come off in her hand, and I that this woman was actually asking me to do a sit-up!?

From that day on, ours has been a rich and wonderful friendship and Heather has continued to be one of the strongest and most driving supports in my recovery. Today, she works with me as a regular occupation or rather, joyful expedition, in the capacity of an assistant - though more akin to the relationship of Krishna (Hindu God) to Arjuna (Hindu hero) in the Great battle of the Mahabharata, than any common personal assistant.

In a parallel chapter...

The recent brief but very enjoyable visit by my father brought with it the ripe creative energy of spring. With he and Ira sharing an interest in and proclivity for photography, we were treated to a rich array of creative art. We organized a number of celebratory gatherings to introduce and share our community with more delight as Ira and he began to exchange their refined tastes in wine. Very festive!

The primary impetus for this recent visit, however, turned out to be a crowning jewel indeed.

I was reintroduced to a man I have met once before, when I was somewhere around the age of two, a longtime friend of my father's, Gary Buchanan. A long time financial specialist, philanthropist and general do-gooder, Gary was brought to me as someone who might assist me in better understanding some of the financial situations and decisions I may be facing in the context of my current litigation process. He turned out to be something else entirely.

As we sat around and got to talking, it became eminently clear that, more than anything else, Gary was here as a friend interested wholly in offering human support, in what ever way he could be of service. We enjoyed his company for just one afternoon and a little into the evening, and by the end were fast friends laughing delightedly at the new addition to TeamKabir.

On the front of the more mundane...

 The litigation I have pending against defendants Ford and Firestone is showing new development. We have recently begun to receive the documents we requested of the defense in early discovery phase. They have an interesting technique: "dump truck delivery" where in we receive a handful of documents which we have requested bound together with an infinite number of documents which we have not requested. Fortunately for me, my lead trial preparation attorney, John Rowell is a consummate master of knowing exactly what he is looking for and moving through such a mountain of documents with ease and precision. Already he has uncovered for us a number of important and particularly damning pieces of evidence which substantially strengthen our position in this case.

As a result of this new mountain of work we have requested and received a postponement of trial. Originally scheduled for May the 25th of this year, we now have the luxury to better prepare for trial on the 19th of October, thankfully, this year. This development improves our position, gives us better leverage for negotiation, and gives us a clear end to the long and tiring process of struggling for funding and maintaining our efforts in the face of a draining legal proceeding. It also provides a finite and concrete condition for fund-raising allowing us to evaluate exactly where we are, and exactly where we need to be fiscally in order to manage this process through the end of a trial which is expected to last for seven weeks.

Please contact personally or visit the "Support" section of my web site to see how you can help us carry the baton through this leg of the recovery relay.

Thanks for sharing in this journey,

Kabir

(760) 434-6407

P.S. if you or anyone you know will be in the Washington DC area on the 12th of this month (April) consider showing your face at the first national rally focused on finding a cure for paralysis!

Learn more here: http://www.cureparalysisnow.org/