Thursday, February 20, 2014

David Menasche & The Relevance To Brain Cancer Research

By Robin Setser


Brain cancer research, in my opinion, is the type of field that has a lot of attention placed on it and for good reasons. Theories are going to be seen across the board but the truth of the matter is that, when talking about causes for the condition, nothing is concrete. This doesn't mean that certain stories should be overlooked, especially the ones that are more uplifting than others. This is the case for David Menasche, who had to retire from teaching and went on to a greater endeavor.

After teaching English for so many years, David Menasche had to leave when the condition spoke about earlier made it impossible for him to do so. TODAY.com reported on the matter, saying that he had to leave Coral Reef Senior High School, located in Miami, due to his condition leaving him partially paralyzed and nearly blind. It's clear that the condition left an impact on him. This did not mean, though, that he would totally give up teaching. He would simply have to teach in another fashion.

TODAY.com spoke on the matter, saying that Menasche would undertake what he called a "vision quest." During a course of 101 days, he would travel by any means necessary in order to stop at a total of 31 different cities in order to reunite with 75 students. He would ask said students to take certain words into account - love, power, and family amongst them - and instruct them on how strong these terms were to them. He would understand their lives better and, as a result, help them to greater degrees.

I believe that a story like this is one that should earn the attention of organizations like Voices against Brain Cancer. While brain cancer research is always going to have attention brought to it, what about the stories of patients who are driven to make a difference in the lives of many people? Menasche's health may not be great but the ability to reach out to others is one that cannot be overlooked. It's hard to overlook the potential impact that he can have across the board.

While the solutions that can be seen in the way of brain cancer research are rather limited, does this necessarily mean that it should be overlooked? I do not believe this to be the case and I think that the stories regarding the endeavors of patients are just as worthy of note. Menasche's story is a tremendous one, which is especially true when considering how he was able to put forth efforts to raise money for research purposes. His integrity, as well as his kindness and work ethic, cannot be questioned.




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