Editing 79-01-A5 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Some time ago on one of these broadcasts, I told the story of a
young man in Bridgetown, Illinois -- Jim Hendricks and his horse Calvin.
Since then I've had a number of letters from neighborly people who want
to give a hand to Jim and Calvin. Before this commentary ends, I'll
give Jim's address in case you want to be ready to take it down.

Jim Hendricks, a young man in his middle or late 20's was working
on a river barge when a two-inch cable snapped and crushed his spine.
He is a paraplegic living in a trailer home and was living on disability
payments from Social Security. Those payments were suspended a while
back as the result of a bureaucratic "snafu". It's curious how quickly
the payments could be cancelled, yet now that the "snafu" is cleared
away, Social Security tells him it will still be several months before
his payments can be reinstated.

Meanwhile, Jim is being pressed by a bank because he mortgaged his
trailer and everything he owns including his horse Calvin. Of course
with no income, he is unable to keep up the mortgage payments and could
possibly lose his home and Calvin.

Now Calvin is the thing that makes this story pretty special.
Jim Hendricks resolved that he would not spend his life sitting in a
wheelchair watching the world go by. He had grown up on a farm riding
horses as a boy. He decided that he wanted to ride again even though
he was paralyzed from the waist down.

He set out to find the right horse. Having done this, he looked
for and found a trainee; a blind man who had trained trick horses for
the circus. In three months they had a horse that would lie down so
Jim could get aboard and could be ridden by him with no braces or
straps. Strangely enough, Calvin seems to understand and is protective
of his rider, but won't allow anyone else to ride him.

If the mortgage is foreclosed, Jim will lose Calvin. Well, this
is the story I told a while back. I've received letters from disabled
people telling me what Jim and Calvin have done to inspire them. Others
have written wanting his address so they can help.

So here it is -- Jim Hendricks, P.O. Box 229, Bridgetown, Illinois
62618. I'll repeat -- Box 229 Bridgetown, Illinois 62618. And thank
you all -- sincerely. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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