Love lifted me   Justin Dart   Justin Dart has been a successful businessman and, for more than four decades, an advocate for human rights throughout the world. As a champion for the empowerment of people with and without disabilities, he was a leading advocate for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was born in 1930 into a Chicago family of wealthy, media-prominent winners. Surrounded by hostile "super winners," I decided to establish my own identity by being a hostile "super loser." I never met a person I couldn't insult. And I never met a rule or an object I couldn't break. I went to seven high schools, graduating from none. People didn't like me. I didn't like myself. At age 18 I contracted polio. The doctors at a major hospital in Los Angeles told my parents I would die in a few days, but not to worry--I would be better off dead than crippled. My father was furious. He did some quick research and found a hospital operated by people to whom each human life was sacred--the White Memorial Hospital [now White Memorial Medical Center] operated by the College of Medical Evangelists and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. [From 1913-1962, medical students at Loma Linda University, then known as the College of Medical Evangelists, received classroom instruction in Loma Linda. During their junior and senior years, they went to the College's Los Angeles campus at White Memorial Hospital to receive clinical training. The College's physician faculty served on the medical staff there.] Being with people who were passionately dedicated to expressing love for each other and for me--even though I was rude to them--was something new for me. These people seemed so happy. I could feel the warmth of their love. It was a good feeling. I thought, "Justin, if you are only going to live a few more days, why not try this love thing--try smiling and being positive." For the first time I knew the joy of life. I sort of went wild experimenting with love. I have vivid memories of singing hymns with my nurses, "When nothing else could help, love lifted me." And it did. It did. The love and the passionate loving science of these strangers saved my life. Far more important, they resurrected my spirit--the sick spirit of a young man who had lived a short, lonesome lifetime of failure, hostility, and self-hate. It soon became apparent that I was not going to die, but that I would be a wheelchair user for the rest of my life. There was no period of grieving. I count the happy, the valuable, the responsible days of my life from the first week I was exposed to the magnificent, dedicated, loving people at White Memorial Hospital. And what a magnificent life they have given me.   University | Medical_Center | LLU&MC_home | Search_&_index | News_&_events | Employment | Contact | Our_mission All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University. All rights reserved. Revised Monday, January 28, 2002 3:55 PM Send comments and questions to webmaster@univ.llu.edu URL: http: //www.llu.edu