We are living in trying times right now, with each of us going through our own personal difficulties. But no matter how difficult, NEVER GIVE UP!
During my first supervisory position with the DEA, I was assigned an analyst by the name of Ed Riley. Ed was a quadriplegic, had cancer and was diabetic. Ed lived at home with his 80-year-old mother who suffered from dementia. He drove himself to work each day in a 30-year-old van badly in need of repair, but that was equipped to fit his wheelchair and his particular abilities. He was past-due on his mortgage, was being sued by his health insurance provider for exceeding his annual limit and was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy.
Yet he came to work every single day and gave his all.
Ed wasn’t born a quadriplegic. In his own words, he earned that title. According to Ed, when he was 18, he was football star on his high-school varsity team with a scholarship to play college ball. But during one of the final games of the season, he let his anger get the best of him.
According to Ed, there was a player on the opposing team who had outshined him all night, which embarrassed and annoyed him. So, when he saw that player a few feet away with the ball in his hand and his back to Ed, he made a split-second decision to spear the player in the back. For those of you who don’t know, spearing is when a player leads with the top of his helmet to make a tackle. Spearing is illegal in both amateur and professional football.
Ed admitted that his intention was to hurt the other player. But as it turned out, he snapped his own neck, rendering him paralyzed below the head. In the blink of an eye, he went from being a cocky athlete full of piss and vinegar, to being confined to a bed or wheelchair for the rest of his life.
But he never gave up.
]Ed fought against all odds and regained partial use of his hands – and with that, some semblance of independence. While he could not dress himself or even comb his hair, his minimal hand movements were enough to allow him to operate an electrical wheelchair and a modified van. So, he could now get around on his own.
The injury prevented Ed from graduating from high school, so he got his GED. Obviously, Ed lost his scholarships to college. He had always dreamed of going to a Big 10 university, but now had no way to pay the tuition. But that didn’t stop him. Ed enrolled in a community college, earned his degree and was hired on as an analyst with DEA.
As you might imagine, it’s not easy to earn respect as a quadriplegic in a law enforcement community. Most agents have Type A personalities, are outspoken and don’t take shit from anybody. Yet Ed managed over time to earn the respect of these agents. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Ed had a brilliant mind. Ed also had a great sense of humor. One day, he told me that he lived life by “Riley’s law”. When I asked him what Riley’s law was, he responded: “You know Murphy’s law – If anything can go wrong, it will. Well Riley’s law is that Murphy was an optimist”.
When hurricane Andrew hit Miami in 1992, Ed was alone at home with his mother, who at this point was bedridden. Their caregiver was unable to leave her house due to the storm. A piece of debris came crashing through his window, striking Ed and knocking him out of his chair. A short time later, they lost all power to the house. It was three days before rescue personnel found Ed lying helplessly in a puddle in what remained of his house. But that did not stop him – he was back at work the following morning.
One day, he didn’t show up for work. Ed was usually in the office by 7 AM, so when 10:00 AM rolled around and we didn’t see him, we began to get worried. We called the house – no answer. We called his sister, who lived approximately two hours from Miami. She told us that she had spoken with Ed that morning as he was getting ready for work. So, either something happened to him before leaving for work, or something happened on his commute.
We decided to drive out to his house to check on him. But as we got to the parking lot, we noticed his van it its usual spot on the far side of the lot, away from most of the other vehicles. As we approached the vehicle, we spotted Ed sitting in the car, covered in sweat. It was the dead of the summer in Miami, with temperatures close to 100 degrees. After shutting off the vehicle, Ed had apparently dropped his keys, along with the remote that operated the side door and elevator for his chair. Ed had been sitting in the car for over three hours, with no way to get out and no way to alert anybody. Ed was taken to the hospital as he was severely dehydrated, but he was back in the office the following day. He never gave up.
A few months later, Ed was robbed. He was at home with his caregiver, when the doorbell rang – it was the caregiver’s boyfriend. The boyfriend unhooked the battery to Ed’s wheelchair and then took his time searching the house. He took what little money that Ed had, along with the television and his mother’s jewelry. He and the caregiver left, without re-connecting the battery to Ed’s wheelchair. So ,it wasn’t until 9:00 AM the following morning that Ed was found when the daytime caregiver arrived. But he never gave up.
Ed’s cancer eventually took over his body and his organs began to fail, but he never gave up. He fought tooth and nail every single day, until he was called to a better place. But he never gave up.
So, when I’m having a bad day, week or even month, I look back to Ed. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he was the strongest person I have ever met. And I do my best to live up to his example, and will never give up!