Q: How/when did it all begin for your dad in chiropractic?

A: Dad has a great story that he tells. He was the pitcher of his high school baseball team. During one game the batter struck a line drive that skipped out of his glove, struck him in the forehead, and knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, he was lying on his back on the pitcher’s mound with his teammates huddled around him. When he sat up, his vision was blurred and he had developed nystagmus. This means his eyes darted uncontrollably from side to side. When he stood up and attempted to walk, he found that he was unable to. He had developed an ataxic gate and could only stumble from side to side as though he were drunk. He was taken to the hospital and examined. An extensive battery of tests was performed, but no definitive diagnosis was reached by the medical doctors who sent him home to convalesce. His condition continued to deteriorate over the next few months and he was forced to drop out of school. He had always been at the top of his class and so this was a tremendous blow to him. His condition worsened and the doctors decided that they should perform exploratory brain surgery to see if they could determine the cause of the problem. Panicked, his distraught parents asked every relative, friend, and neighbor for advice. One neighbor had visited a chiropractor, and suggested that my Dad give it a try. The family thought that there was nothing to lose, and made an appointment to see the chiropractor. The chiropractor examined Dad’s cervical spine and located a subluxation of the first cervical vertebra, the atlas. He adjusted Dad’s spine and over the course of a few weeks, Dad’s symptoms began to decrease! Within a month, he was able to sit up and walk a few steps on his own. At the end of two months of care, Dad returned to school and worked diligently to catch up to his class. With hard work and after school studies, he was able to graduate with the rest of his class, earning high honors. Having been saved from spending his life as an invalid, Dad credits his entire life to chiropractic care. His chiropractic experience inspired him to become a chiropractor, and he has mentored numerous students to join the profession, including his own son – me!