Daily HealthBeat Tip

Won’t slow down.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Dr. Peter Galpin is a Boy Scout dad, goes camping, snorkels, skis, is a surgeon in Hawaii, has done medical missions in Afghanistan and Laos -- pretty active guy.

He does it from a wheelchair. Galpin has been paralyzed since 1977, when a drunken driver struck him. Galpin is the first surgeon in the United States to start and complete his medical and surgical training from a wheelchair.

Galpin spoke when U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona announced a call to action that emphasizes what people with disabilities can do. Galpin’s advice:

"A person with disability should have unlimited goals. People’s potential is limited only by their imagination. If there was a kid out there that wanted to fly planes, drive race cars, be an astronaut or an oceanographer, I would say, 'Go for it.'" (13 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 26, 2005

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