2022-05-01 Reader's Digest

Cover Story Reader’s Digest

about relationships, careers, and per- might need,” Nixon said. “Every per-
sonal problems. son who stops by the bench deserves
my undivided attention.”
“I was happy to listen,” Nixon, 59,
said. “I wanted them to walk away He remembers the day a couple
knowing they didn’t have to feel alone. came by to talk about problems in their
When you’re in your 50s and 60s or relationship. “The husband was always
beyond, a lot of people feel their pur- working, rarely home,” Nixon said. “It
pose hasn’t been fulfilled. At this stage was ruining their marriage. I told him:
in life, this is definitely my purpose.” ‘My friend, if your wife’s revelation
didn’t scare you, then maybe the pos-
So, every morning, weather permit- sibility of losing her will.’”
ting, Nixon, who has three grown chil-
dren and a long-term significant other, “HIS UNIQUE GIFT
rises at 4:30. He puts on a fedora, sips IS THAT HE LISTENS
a cup of coffee, then drives seven
miles to the waterfront, where he’ll TO EVERYONE.”
stay for two hours. His presence and
his openness to listen have led some Nixon was right, the man admitted.
to nickname him the Sunshine Mayor. “He started to cry and agreed that he
needed to slow down,” said Nixon.
“Al is this calm, constant presence,” “We all hugged each other, and we
said Jeff Franzen, 64, a retired real became friends after that. I still see
estate developer who met Nixon while them every now and then over lunch.”
taking a walk along the waterfront a
few years ago. “His unique gift is that No topic is off limits, Nixon said, but
he listens to everyone.” some people sit down and don’t want
to talk at all. They simply want to sit
It’s more than that, said Dee Glowa, next to someone and share the silence.
who is in her late 50s. She met Nixon
while out strolling three years ago. “A woman stopped once and said,
“He listens without judgment and ‘I just want to sit here with you,’” he
without any kind of return expected.” recalled. “We stared at the water for
an hour, then she said thank you
While most people simply wave or and walked away. She just wanted a
drop by briefly to make small talk, moment of peace and to know she
others are anxious to step into his wasn’t alone. And in that moment,
“office” and spend a few minutes with in that hour, on that morning, she
someone who will listen. truly wasn’t.” RD

No matter what problem a person The WashingTon PosT (July 30, 2021), CoPyrighT
wants to air, Nixon lends an ear. “You © 2021 by The WashingTon PosT
have to have an open heart and an
open head, because you never know
who’s going to walk up and what they

Rd.com 49

OUT ON
A LIMB

By Dana Hedgpeth

from the Washington Post

F or the most part, Hank, a two- a fence and then became spooked by inset photo: courtesy humane rescue alliance
year-old tan-and-white rescue some dogs. The more scared he got,
cat, is a homebody—and for the higher he climbed.
good reason. The one time he got
out of his yard in Washington, DC, he “Cats have an amazing ability to
managed to get stuck in a 60-foot-tall climb up trees, but actually they aren’t
tree for five days and four nights with that good at climbing down,” said Dan
no food or water. D’Eramo, director of field services for
the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA).
Hank’s big adventure started last
November 6. Delores Bushong, his Bushong, now worried about get-
75-year-old owner, had just returned ting Hank down, asked the HRA to
from a farmers market when she re- take the lead, but it was no easy
alized Hank hadn’t come in for his task. HRA called the fire department,
midday snack. She called his name, in but it declined to help, citing safety
alleys and streets around her home. As concerns. Then Bushong called a
it got dark, she began to worry. Then construction company to ask about
she heard mewling, looked up, and renting scaffolding but was told she
spotted Hank, perched on a branch would have to book the equipment
near the top of a neighbor’s tree. 48 days in advance.

Bushong believes Hank got under Next she reached out to a local tree
company, Casey Trees, where she

50 may 2022

Cover Story Reader’s Digest

volunteers, helping with planting and lowered from the tree. D’Eramo de-
trimming. But the crew that came out cided to try this approach with Hank.
analyzed Hank’s predicament and
said it wasn’t safe for a person to go Bushong filled a small crate with
up into the tree because the branches some of Hank’s favorite things: cat-
weren’t sturdy. nip, food, a pair of her slippers, a fuzzy
blanket. They called it Hank’s party
Bushong was crushed. “To real- pack. With the help of volunteers from
ize something you love is in trouble Casey Trees, they used a contraption
and you personally can’t do anything that shot a beanbag attached to a rope
about it is very frustrating,” she said. high into the tree.

Cue the neighbors. Ed Baptiste, They got lucky on the first try, as the
whose tree Hank had climbed, let rope caught a branch directly above
Bushong sit in his backyard and call Hank. Pulling on the other end of the
to Hank. Another neighbor donated a rope, they positioned Hank’s party
can of sardines, hoping it might entice pack just beneath him. To their great
the hungry cat to come down. Nearby delight, he jumped in, and they low-
dog owners took their pets on walks ered him.
instead of letting them out in their
yards to avoid further spooking Hank. Once on terra firma, Bushong
scooped Hank into her arms, cuddling
One neighbor suggested Bushong him hard as he purred. Afterward,
call a local business, EJ’s Pest Control, they went inside and ate, and Hank
which had a tall ladder. She did, and rested in his favorite chair.
the owner, Ijeoma Maduforo-Barry,
told her she was welcome to it. “I The next day, Bushong recalled,
don’t have pets, but I’m human, and I when Hank wanted to go outside, “I
do have a soft heart,” said Maduforo- said, ‘Oh no.’” After some fence repairs,
Barry. Unfortunately, the 42-foot lad- though, she let him out in her back-
der proved too short. yard—where he seems content to stay.

By day five, nothing had worked. Hank’s adventure taught his grate-
That’s when Lydia Krassensky, a vet- ful owner a lesson about neighbors
erinary assistant at HRA, told another helping neighbors. “I can’t believe
staffer how her sister and brother-in- how many people went out of their
law got their cat down from a tree. way to help me with this cat,” she
They created a makeshift pulley sys- said. “No one ever said, ‘You’re being
tem by looping a rope around a tall ridiculous.’ It made me feel good that
branch, then raising a basket with I live in a neighborhood where people
some of the owners’ personal items. would do whatever they could to get
The cat, lured by the familiar scents, him down. It gave me hope.” RD
climbed into the basket and was
The WashingTon PosT (november 26, 2021), CoPyrighT
© 2021 by The WashingTon PosT

Rd.com 51

NOTHING rim. Did it even go through? Some- inset photo: Jeenah Moon/the new York tiMes
BUT NET times it’s hard to tell.

By David Waldstein That’s why Anibal Amador, a former
real estate agent from New York City,
froM the new york times regularly dips into his own pocket to
buy brand-new nets for playground
O ne of the most gratifying rims. For the most part, the city does
sounds in sports is the whoosh not provide them.
of a basketball snapping the
netting on a perfect swish. Take away “Without the nets, it is just not
the net and all that’s left is the unsatis- good,” Amador said. “No one prefers
fying silence of a ball pushing air mol- to play that way.”
ecules around as it sails through the
So, for the past few years, with the
help of a stepladder he brings from his
apartment, Amador has been buying
basketball nets and fastening them to
the rims at a handful of playgrounds

52 may 2022

Cover Story Reader’s Digest

near his home in mid-Manhattan. favorite courts as needed, roughly
The New York City Parks Depart- every nine weeks.

ment maintains 1,800 basketball “The amount of play that these
courts around the city’s five bor- parks get is surprising,” he said. “It’s a
oughs, where some of the best games lot, and the nets really don’t last.”
in history have been staged without
a single fan watching. It isn’t feasible “I THOUGHT HE
to keep nets on all the rims in all the WORKED FOR THE
parks, so the city doesn’t even try.
CITY,” SAID ONE
“I understand it,” Amador said, “be- GRATEFUL PLAYER.
cause there are just so many parks that
they would have to be putting up nets But at St. Vartan, Amador makes
all the time. That’s where I come in.” sure that every good shot is a splash-
down through the feathery nets
Amador’s small civic gesture is one he buys on the Internet for about
of many little acts of altruism that $10 apiece.
tend to go unnoticed yet help sustain
a small measure of quality of life in a Once, when he was putting up some
crowded metropolis where the my- new nets, one of the regular play-
thology of playground basketball is ers gave Amador $20 to help defray
a matter of city lore. his costs. The player was astounded
that someone would be so generous
Last year, a group of players at one with his money and time. “I thought
playground, St. Vartan Park, waited he worked for the city,” the man said.
patiently as Amador, then 55, carefully “He was very meticulous. And then
balanced atop his ladder, finished he brings out a long brush and wipes
fastening new nets to the clips un- down the backboards. I’ve never seen
der the rims before wiping down the that before.”
backboard with a rag. When he was
done, they cheered. Amador says he does it simply
for the love of the game.
“It is much better for everyone
with the nets,” Amador said, sharing Because every great hoop star has
a huge smile. a nickname—LeBron is King James,
Earvin Johnson is Magic—Amador
Originally from Rio Piedras in San was asked if he had one.
Juan, Puerto Rico, Amador moved to
New York City almost 30 years ago, Beaming, he replied, “I was think-
working in real estate until recently. ing maybe ... the Net Changer.” RD
He is looking to branch out into
something else but, in the meantime, The New York Times (JulY 23, 2021), CopYrighT © 2021
he plays basketball two or three times The New York Times CompaNY
a week, and replaces the nets at his

Rd.com 53

UP FROM
THE WELL

By Robert Kiener

A s the late afternoon sun beat the gate when he turned around and inset photo: tyne Morgan with Us FarM report
down on his Rock Port, Mis- saw only his youngest son.
souri, farm last May, Brandon
Leseberg finished feeding his cows “Where’s Louie?” he shouted.
and decided to call it a day. As they “He fell in the hole!” Everett said.
often did, his two sons, Louie, 6, and Brandon, 37, quickly realized what
Everett, 3, had tagged along. had happened. Noooo! he thought.
Louie can barely swim!
As they headed for the house, the He ran to the well and heard Louie
two boys ran ahead of their father, splashing and gurgling quite a ways
who stopped to close the gate. Louie below. Instinctively, he jumped in.
paused at a water spigot atop an old As he fell some 70 feet down the
well to quench his thirst. Unknown 24-inch-wide brick-lined well, Bran-
to the Lesebergs, the board covering don heard Louie screaming. Some-
the well had, over time, grown brittle. how Brandon managed to grab on
When Louie stepped on it, it caved in. to a pipe that ran down the side of
the well, which slowed his descent
Brandon had just finished latching

54 may 2022

Cover Story Reader’s Digest

and kept him from crushing his son. “Yes. Did you get some help?”
Brandon hit the frigid water at the “No.”
Brandon’s heart sank. “That’s OK,
bottom of the well. He popped his honey. But you have to go back out to
head out of the water and grabbed the road and get someone to stop. OK,
Louie, who was panicked, trying to Everett?”
stay afloat in water that was too deep “OK, Daddy.”
for either of them to stand. Know- About 15 minutes later, Christi and
ing they could tread ice-cold water Mark McKenney, nearby farmers,
for only so long, Brandon hoisted his were driving by the Leseberg farm-
son onto his chest as he wedged his stead when they noticed Everett alone
own legs and back against the narrow by the side of the road, waving. They
walls for support, his body still partly pulled over and asked if he was OK.
submerged. “My daddy’s in a hole,” he told them.
The couple piled Everett into their
“All right, Dad, you can pull us out pickup and drove onto the farm, and
now,” Louie said. the boy pointed them to the well.
Mark dialed 911 while Christi called
If only it were that easy. There was another neighbor.
no way he could climb out. The pipe After hearing from Christi, 45-year-
that he’d grabbed during his fall was old Dan Athen ran to his barn and
too slippery to be of any use. There grabbed a thick 85-foot rope. Then
was only one way out. Looking up to he and his son Ryan, 13, sped to the
see Everett peering down at them from Lesebergs’ farm. The pair leaped out
the top of the well, Brandon shouted, of the pickup and sprinted to the well.
“Everett, you’re going to have to be a “Brandon,” Dan shouted, “it’s Dan
big boy and save us. Run to the road Athen. We’re going to send a rope
and stand by the mailbox until some- down to you.”
one stops. Tell them we need help. Brandon shouted back, “OK, I’ll
And Everett, stay off the road!” send Louie up first.”
That was a surprise; Dan had no
Everett did as he was told. idea that Louie was also in the well.
Minutes passed like hours as Bran- There was no time to mull it over.
don, clutching his shivering son, con- Each second in the well meant a
tinued to arch his back and brace his greater risk of hypothermia. After a
shoulders and legs against the well’s call from Mark, Eric Duncan, who
brick walls. Five minutes. Ten min- works on Brandon’s farm, and his
utes. There was no sign of Everett. friend Jacob McKenney arrived to
“Where is he?” Brandon said to him- help. After Dan tossed the rope down
self as he wondered, Will we make it?
Finally, Everett’s face appeared
above the well. “Daddy, are you still
down that hole?”

Rd.com 55

Reader’s Digest Cover Story

the well, Brandon tied it around Louie, use the foundation of the old windmill
then shouted, “You can pull now!” that still stood over the well as a hoist
to help pull Brandon up. They tossed
The neighbors started hauling down one end of the rope and he tied
up Louie but were puzzled by how it around himself.
heavy the small boy was. They gave
another hard tug. Something seemed “I’m ready to go!” he shouted.
to break free, and the men hoisted After looping their end of the rope
Louie up and out of the well. When over the old windmill frame, each of
he emerged, they were shocked to see the five neighbors grabbed a portion
wires wrapped around his arm. Louie of rope and began pulling. Brandon
had somehow gotten entangled with helped by gripping the well’s pipe as
the well’s pump and its wiring, which best he could as he ascended toward
had weighed him down. the circle of blue sky at the top of
the well.
THE NEIGHBORS “Hang on, Brandon,” the team
GRABBED THE ROPE shouted as they hoisted him up.
AND BEGAN PULLING. Forty-some minutes after he’d
jumped into the well to save his son,
But now he was safe. “You’re out, Brandon emerged, cold and wet. Just
buddy! You’re out!” said Eric, as oth- as his neighbors reached out to grab
ers carefully unwrapped the tangled him, he collapsed to the ground,
wires from his arm. Then Eric rushed exhausted. A minute later, the first
Louie to his pickup, where he bundled responders arrived.
him in several hoodies and turned the Other than some nasty scratches,
heater up full blast. Brandon was fine. Louie, though, suf-
fered hypothermia, as well as deep
The neighbors now turned their at- bruising from the wires that had en-
tention to Brandon. But there was a tangled him. He also had a punctured
hitch. He was a big guy, too heavy to lung, which doctors told Brandon was
pull out of the well using just the rope likely a result of the rope around his
as they had done with Louie. Wait- chest. Still, he was healthy enough to
ing for the emergency rescue team to return to school a week later.
arrive might have been a wise move, While all the rescuers have been
but who knew when it would show hailed as heroes, Dan Athen isn’t buy-
up? Besides, their friend was freezing ing it. “We’re just neighbors helping
down there. Of course they were going neighbors,” he says before shining the
to get him out. spotlight on someone else. “If there is
a hero in this story, it’s three-year-old
After a brief confab, they decided to Everett. He’s a real lifesaver.” RD

56 may 2022

FRIENDS,
INDEED

By Reader’s Digest Readers

A Treasured Friend home to a gaily decorated box filled
with birthday gifts for my grand-
I had just gone through three big life daughter. It was from Molly. We re-
changes within nine months: a ceived a similar box with Christmas
divorce after 32 years of marriage, a gifts for both of us soon after. We’ve
move, and receiving custody of my received them every birthday, Christ-
22-month-old granddaughter. At the mas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and
same time, an old college friend was Halloween for the past four years.
diagnosed with a terminal illness and
asked me to reach out to some of our I can’t tell you how excited my
classmates to let them know. One of granddaughter is to open these trea-
them, Molly, was the first to our sure boxes, but I was also buoyed by
friend’s bedside. We hadn’t spoken in the kindness. During a year in which
decades, but we kept in touch through I was struggling with so many life
the following weeks. changes, Molly’s extended thoughtful-
ness helped keep me afloat.
It was very overwhelming to raise a —Roberta Edgar Whitenight
toddler and adjust to the heartbreak Warrington, Pennsylvania
and depression. One day, I came

Rd.com 57

Carrying the Day

I bought a Little Tikes car for the kids
but found out too late that it was too
big to fit into my sedan. A woman in
the parking lot noticed me struggling
and offered to put the car in her mini-
van and follow me home. I never for-
got her kindness.

Two years later, I noticed someone
struggling to fit patio furniture into
her car. This time, I was the “woman
with a minivan.” I told her the Little
Tikes story and that it was my pleasure
to pay it forward. We loaded the fur-
niture and I followed her home. She
and I stayed in touch, and 25 years
later, LeAnne and I are still friends.
—Michele Levine
Silver Spring, Maryland

Just the Ticket enough extras for the whole group,
then disappeared into the crowd.
In 1991, I was taking a group of Black
high school students to attend a For students who hadn’t consid-
lecture by author and former Reader’s ered themselves intellectuals, it was
Digest writer Alex Haley. I was life-changing to be surrounded by
annoyed because another teacher academic role models who looked
who was supposed to help had flaked like them. Many are now educators
at the last minute. I was trying to and describe that night as pivotal. I
figure out how to stretch my already wish there was some way to inform
thin teacher paycheck when a woman that woman of the impact her gener-
approached and asked if we had osity had.
tickets yet. She promptly handed over —Dixie Ross Austin, Texas

58 may 2022

Cover Story Reader’s Digest

Lending an Ear spare diaper in hand. We could stay at
the zoo after all! This stranger turned
I was living paycheck to paycheck, and our bad memory into a precious one.
most days my fridge held only condi- —Rene Bane Bowie, Maryland
ments. While pumping away my last
dollars at a gas station, the father of a Instant Friends
good friend pulled in. He was a farmer
and the driver’s education teacher at A big family walked into the small
school. He jumped out of his truck waiting area at our local steakhouse,
and greeted me with his booming and my friend’s husband jumped up
voice: “Hi! Do you like corn?” to help an elderly woman to his seat.
Our groups chatted as we waited and
He gave me instructions for how to were laughing like old friends before
make “the perfect loaded ear of corn” we knew it.
as he filled my backseat with count-
less ears of sweet corn. I went home We stopped at one another’s tables
and made the corn exactly as he’d several times throughout the night.
instructed. That night I ate the most It felt as if we were having dinner to-
delicious dinner I’d had in a while. gether, only at separate tables.

I ran into him again years later They came to say goodbye while
and told him how he’d unknowingly we were still eating, explaining that
fed me for days. He dismissed his they’d been a bit uneasy about stop-
kindness with a smile and laugh, ping because it was a predominantly
but I could tell he was pleased. Thank White area, and they were Black.
you, Mr. Henry Bohen. You made We told them we had loved their
such a difference in a struggling young company and wished them a safe
adult’s life. I’ll be forever grateful. drive. When we were finally ready
—Nanci King-Sterett to leave, the server told us they’d al-
Biggsville, Illinois ready paid our bill, desserts included.
—Linda Orsini Fair Lawn, New Jersey
A Change of Heart
Forever in Our Good Book
My son needed a diaper change right
when we arrived for our day at the zoo. In a few years, my daughter Olivia
In the changing stall, I realized I had would be diagnosed with autism,
only one diaper left in the bag. I hated ADHD, and a hearing impairment.
explaining to my daughter that we had But on this morning at a pancake
to go home without seeing any ani- house, I knew only that she was an
mals. She was disappointed but didn’t extremely challenging (and adorable)
argue, which made it even sadder. two-year-old. Luckily, most of the
other diners seemed entertained
When we emerged from the stall, when Olivia toddled up to their table
a woman was waiting for us with a

Rd.com 59

Reader’s Digest Cover Story Are Your

and introduced herself. She Neighbors the Best?
spent an especially long
time at a table of older Great people are the secret sauce for
gentlemen, one of whom the Nicest Places in America, our annual
eventually walked her collection of stories about towns, neighbor-
back to where we were hoods, and businesses where people are kind,
sitting. He told me they’d differences are celebrated, and the Golden
loved Olivia’s company,
and asked for our mailing Rule is as instinctive as “please” and
address. “thank you.” If you’ve seen something in
your community and thought “Now this
A few weeks later, we re- is what I’d like to see in the news cycle,”
ceived a package from him con- now is your chance to tell us all about it

(and see terms), at rd.com/nicest.

taining the book Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch and Sheila Mc-

Graw. It took Olivia and me several

reads to get through it without crying.

Now she is about to graduate from for tickets, I was growing less and less

high school. We still sing the book’s confident that we’d saved enough to

song to each other every night: “I love afford them.

you forever, I’ll like you for always, Out of nowhere, a man walked up

as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll and offered us free tickets. He told

be.” Then we hug. Sometimes twice. us that he and his wife were park

That gentleman’s kindness has made employees. They got the tickets as a

a long-lasting difference in our lives. perk and didn’t want them to go to

—Bonnie Weiss Duvall, Washington waste. We thanked them profusely

Be Our Guests and walked through the gates of the
Magic Kingdom together. They even

Years ago, when my daughter was four got us discounts on souvenirs. Then

years old, we went on a trip to Orlando, they shooed us off and told us to go

pinching pennies for weeks before- have a wonderful day.

hand in hopes that we could spend a —Karen Mills-Tribble

day at Disney World. Waiting in line Richmond, Kentucky RD HiddenCatCH/getty images

It Passes the Smell Test

“Muffins” spelled backward is what you do
when you take them out of the oven.

@saoirserae1

60 may 2022 | Rd.com

CARES HERE.
AND HERE .

EVERY INGREDIENT HAS A PURPOSE.
EVERY INGREDIENT FROM OUR TRUSTED SOURCES.
You care about the ingredients in your pet’s food. And so do we.
Proven nutrition is at the heart of what we do. But it’s not all we do.
See our commitment to ingredient integrity and responsible sourcing at
PURINA.COM/CARES.

Reader’s Digest
62 may 2022

LIFE WELL LIVED

FenceHoleThe in
the

A child’s unlikely friendship with an
unseen neighbor transforms in isolation

By Adrian Van Young

From guernica

One day, my son be- grew up here, refers to as “the Holy
friends the nun. It starts Mecca.” I’ve also heard it called
with voices in the yard. Pigeon Town, Leonidas, or, in faintly
Through the glass kitchen ominous tones, “the fruit streets”—
doors where I stand chop- a modest subset of what locals call
ping onions, I hear Sebastian’s voice Uptown, with its grand columned
and then a woman’s. Sebastian, houses and clothing boutiques. It’s
woman—back and forth. Sebastian is working-class, mostly, with middle-
five, and when I come out to check on class fringes: White, Black, and Latinx.
him, his face is pressed into the slats
of the fence in the backyard. We’ve lived here since the sum-
mer of 2014, a month before our
This part of New Orleans is called son was born, when two friends and
Hollygrove—what Lil Wayne, who I unloaded a U-Haul while my wife,

illustrations by Chaaya Prabhat Rd.com 63

Reader’s Digest

hugely pregnant, supervised in the “I see that,” I say. I hadn’t known
heat. her name was Sandy.

Hard to say what Sebastian and the I hear the saw start up again. Sandy
woman are discussing. Immersive to tosses half the fence circle through
him, something else to the woman: the hole and Sebastian picks it up.
Bemusing? Disarming? I really can’t “I’ll keep half and you keep half,” she
say. But I hear traces of it, whatever it says. For the nun and my son, this is
is, in the gentle upspeak of the fence- just the beginning.
talker’s voice, the emphatic, reitera-
tive questions she poses. My wife, Darcy Roake, takes the
little half-moon that Sandy sawed out
Beyond that fence reside the of the fence and puts it on Sebastian’s
nuns—a whole nun condo, two sto- mantel between the picture of whales
ries tall and eggshell blue. The nuns and the Bluebird of Happiness.
were there before we came. I had
imagined uncanny habits with shad- Over the next few weeks, then
ows inside them, but these are chill, months, Sebastian’s and Sandy’s mur-
back-to-the-land nuns. Sometimes I muring voices continue.
see their lights at night, the mellow,
anonymous squares of their windows. Most days Sandy is out doing what-
ever she does in her garden, and
The woman says, “You wait right whenever Sebastian is outside I see
here; I’ll be right back.” him circling near the fence that isn’t
a fence anymore, but a portal. Some
I wait for Sebastian to turn, but days my son just goes to stand at
he lingers, enraptured. I can see the the hole, yelling, “Sandy! Saaaaaan-
tense shape of his young, restive dyyyyy!” with a mournful exuberance.
body, the chicken wings flexing be- It’s never summoned her outside, but
neath his slight shoulders. she must hear him out there.

“Stand back,” says the sister when Sandy’s days are busy. She has that
she returns. There’s a whirring. A cir- vibe of an alpha nun, keeping the
cle in the wooden fence, roughly the other nuns humble and spiffy. I hear
size of a baseball, drops out of sight. their voices in the garden, shooting
The saw blade retreats from the circle. the breeze on their way to do errands,
mumbling about the heat. Youth
The hole reveals little of the woman groups arrive and embark cheerily
who made it. I see her stoop to pick upon team-building efforts, their col-
lege voices floating up, but none of
up the missing piece. these kids holds a candle to Sandy.
“Dad!” Sebastian spins Sebastian is a child transfixed.
around. “Sandy just drilled
out a hole in the fence Partly due to the fact that these
so Sandy and me can hangouts with Sandy provide me
talk!” he says.

Life Well Lived

with a short respite from imaginative I can’t hear how he responds. A
play and fetching snacks, and partly crackle of jealousy runs through me.
because of an ear surgery that ren- When I get him from school at the end
dered me partially deaf on one side, of the day, I’m always full of questions
all I really get are snatches. for him: “What did you do?” “Make
any new friends?” Most of the time
“We did watercolors today at my he’s taciturn; sometimes he’ll try to
school.” change the subject. For the moment,
I stand in the kitchen, eavesdropping.
“Oh yeah?” Sandy asks him. “And
what did you make?” When Sebastian wasn’t passing
messages to Sandy, he enjoyed a river
“I painted a monster,” says my son. of playmates who deluged our house
Or: “Wheeler and Jackson were every day around 5 p.m. He was over-
playing football, and they told me joyed that our house had become the
I couldn’t play.” neighborhood hangout, but some-
“That wasn’t very nice,” says Sandy. times the constant company left me
“Did that hurt your feelings?” feeling like Sebastian’s hamster, which
“Yes?” says my son, in that way he had never bargained on 15 child own-
has sometimes of answering a ques- ers. It was passed from hand to hand,
tion and asking another one in the and when it was finally put back in its
same breath. cage it was wild-eyed, its fur matted
“Did you let them know that?” says
Sandy.

Rd.com | mAY 2022 65

Reader’s Digest

and sticky with ice cream and juice. own, and we’d never deprive him of
It’s late winter of 2020, and the rau- something like that.

cous visits of the neighbor children They push shells and leaves that
have stopped. Five p.m. is more than they’ve found through the hole. They
quiet. There’s a tension or longing ask and answer endless questions.
that hangs in the air, reminding us Sometimes there is silence, Sebastian
of what we’re missing. Sebastian and sitting with knees drawn up and his
Sandy are friends. They not only keep back to the fence while Sandy paces.
chatting through the hole, they also
exchange gifts. A kaleidoscope ma- Sebastian runs inside one day and
terializes, then a Hot Wheels car. It’s announces that Sandy has left some-
unclear what Sebastian gives Sandy thing “too big for the hole” for him
in return. on the porch. It’s a large cardboard
box filled with knickknacks: sponge
THEY NOT ONLY KEEP brushes and tubes of paint, wearable
CHATTING THROUGH butterfly wings made of paper, a par-
THE HOLE, THEY ALSO tial Hot Wheels racing track.

EXCHANGE GIFTS. We’ve been in isolation for a month
when I see Sandy in person. The day
We are in the early, anxious weeks is any other day, as we’ve come to
of coronavirus, but we reluctantly let perceive time since COVID-19 began:
Sebastian keep trading a shared art Sebastian is hunting around near the
project with Sandy under the fence. fence while I attempt some yard work.
More than the fact of their friend-
ship alone, which my wife and I find I hear Sandy’s voice floating over
wholly novel and charming, the nun the top of the fence with the hole. “I
who lives behind the fence is the first thought maybe Sebastian could come
friend Sebastian has made on his for a playdate. I’ve got some bricks
here and they need painting yellow.”

I’m not sure what to do at first, but
my wife wants to go and so does Se-
bastian. We ring the bell on Sandy’s
porch. Sandy’s yard is sweet with
the smell of flowers; tulips and rose-
bushes bloom at the edges.

The first thing Sandy does when she
answers the door is point to a row of
concrete blocks in front of the curb to
her house. She’s a middle-aged woman
with brown hair cut in a pageboy. Her
eyes are squinty, foxed with mirth,

66 may 2022

Life Well Lived

a spray of freckles on her nose. She From the nun whom Sandy sends
wears sandals with cuffed jeans, her to the hole in the fence to break the
T-shirt tucked into the waist. She’s news to us, we learn that Sandy has
shorter than I thought she’d be. She left suddenly to care for her mother in
explains that she’s tired of the whole Kansas. The other nun says that Sandy
neighborhood blocking the path to looked for Sebastian to say goodbye
her door with cars. It delights me that but couldn’t find him in time.
Sandy, a woman of God, is irritated
with her neighbors for parking their Sandy left behind another box of
cars legally on the street. presents: a coloring book, sidewalk
chalk, the missing orange segment
“How you doing, Mom?” says Sandy, in the Hot Wheels track. When I look
gesturing at Darcy’s stomach. at Sebastian, he’s looking down at
his shoes.
Darcy is seven months pregnant.
We’re checking COVID-19 numbers Our second son is born in the
hourly. Our state of mind isn’t what spring. The baby is healthy, and in
you’d call relaxed. Still, there’s some- two days, he and Darcy are home.
thing momentous about a midday Sebastian adores his brother, but in-
sojourn with our son’s adult friend, evitably wanders down to the fence.
who is as chatty and warm as she is Instead of calling “Sandy!” he cries,
enigmatic. “Hello! Helloooooo!”

We’ve suddenly passed through the Sometimes the nun who broke the
hole in the fence; we have to learn to news about Sandy comes for desul-
breathe the air. tory chats. Once, she slides a piece of
paper under the fence with Sandy’s
Darcy lightly rubs her belly. “Get- address on it.
ting there, all right,” she says.
Surprising my wife and me, they
A month later, Sandy leaves for write. They are proper pen pals: They
good. We never expected this to hap- write frequently, warmly. Sebastian
pen. In regretful, low tones, we say writes of a summer indoors. He writes
these very words, “I never expected to “tell her that he loves her.” Sandy
her to leave!” as though if we say writes of her new life in Kansas.
it enough, she won’t leave and our
son won’t be heartbroken, robbed of “God loves you, Sebastian,” she
her magic. signs every postcard. RD

A Massive Moniker

My middle name is War-and-Peace. It’s a long story.

@ JimmerThaTisall

Rd.com 67

Reader’s Digest

INSPIRATION

A MAJOR
LEAGUER’S

SECOND
CHANCE AT

A suicide attempt nearly ended
Drew Robinson’s story. Now he is adding

the most remarkable chapters yet.

By Jeff Passan

From ESPN

Rd.com | mAy 2022 69

Reader’s Digest

On April 16, 2020, Drew Robinson IT’S SIX DAYS before Christmas 2020.
woke up, sat at his kitchen table, and Drew is feeling thankful. He wants
finished writing a note that would ex- to tell the world what happened—so
plain to his family and friends why he he can heal, and maybe help others
had decided to end his life. heal too.

“I hope you guys realize that no one He knows there are a million ques-
could’ve seen this coming to prevent tions. How did he live for nearly an
it, because of how hard I tried to hide entire day with a giant hole on the
it,” he wrote. “It’s no one’s fault.” right side of his head, with no medi-
cal attention? Few people survive self-
He apologized to Daiana, Darryl, inflicted gunshot wounds to the head.
Renee, Britney, and Chad—the five Even rarer are those who emerge with
people he loved the most. The ones clarity, purpose.
who knew him best and still couldn’t
see the sadness suffocating him. Even More than anything, Drew wants to
they believed the avatar he had cre- tell his story to help others recognize
ated: a Major League Baseball player, the awfulness of suicide. He didn’t
handsome, charming, funny, with need his family to see what they
an easy laugh and a big smile. At 27, saw, to go through what they went
Drew was living his dream and yet through, to spend every day wonder-
wanting to die. ing whether he’s really OK, whether
he’s going to do it again. The pain of a
At about 8 p.m., while sitting on his suicide—or attempted suicide—is not
couch, he lifted his handgun, pressed limited to one person.
it against his right temple, and pulled
the trigger. “How can I go through this and not
try to help other people?” Drew says.
That was supposed to be the end of “This was a huge, painful sign that I’m
Drew Robinson’s story. But over the supposed to help people get through
next 20 hours, he would come to re- something that they don’t think
alize it was the beginning of another. is winnable.”

Drew is convinced that he’s meant
to do something. That much was clear
when he opened his eyes and realized
he was still alive.

MOMENTS AFTER SHOOTING himself,
Drew looked around, confused, and
thought, What happened? Why am I
still here? He saw blood everywhere.
He held his head, trying to stem the

70 mAy 2022 | Rd.com

Inspiration

bleeding. It didn’t help. He decided to Darryl. Britney stayed with Renee.
shower. When he stepped in, disori- They found common ground in one
entation hit. He slipped and smacked place: the baseball field. Chad grew to
his head on the handle, square on the six foot five and was considered one of
entry wound. It still didn’t hurt. the best Major League Baseball (MLB)
draft prospects in the country. Drew
He dried off, then collapsed on his was undersized but skilled, smooth,
bed. The blood in his mouth turned natural. Almost every weekend, the
his stomach, so he returned to the Robinsons gathered at a baseball
bathroom. As he bent over the toi- tournament, the parents putting aside
let, his head struck the porcelain. He any animus to support the boys.
peeled himself up and tried to brush
his teeth. How ridiculous, he thought. Chad, who was drafted by the
A guy with a hole in his head brushing Milwaukee Brewers in 2006, set a
his teeth. near-impossible standard, and Drew
considered anything short of it a fail-
It was around midnight, four hours ure. He craved perfection. He made
after he pulled the trigger. As Drew varsity at Silverado High School as a
collapsed onto his bed again and freshman, hit a growth spurt before
closed his eyes, he thought, This is his junior year, and turned into a
where I’m going to die.

Bridget Bennett. previous spread: roB tringali/getty images DREW ROBINSON Even after making it to
GREW up on the the big leagues, Drew
outskirts of Las Ve- second-guessed himself
gas. He was Renee on and off the field.
and Darryl Robin-
son’s youngest child.
His sister, Britney,
and brother, Chad,
found him a tagalong
and an annoyance,
the archetypal little
brother who just
wanted attention
and love.

When Renee and
Darryl divorced, the
Robinson family
splintered. The boys
went to live with

Drew is only the
second man ever to play
in the major leagues
after losing an eye.

prospect: six foot one with a powerful act cool. But neither Bridget Bennett
swing and the ability to play shortstop Daiana nor the world
and the outfield—the best player at could see Drew how
Silverado since his brother. he saw himself—not
as the jokester but as
He was popular, especially with the the joke.
girls. Drew went from one to the next
until he met Daiana Anguelova. For Drew would talk to
Daiana, there was something mag- himself as if he had
netic about Drew, even if it wasn’t an ever-present com-
an obvious match. He could be loud, panion who shared in
bombastic, always trying to look and his misery.

“When something
w o u l d g o w ro n g ,”
Drew says, “the voice
in my head would an-
swer, Well, of course.
That’s just how your
life goes. You don’t get
to enjoy things.”

Over his last two
high school seasons,
Drew was one of the
best players in the
historic Vegas-area Class of 2010 that
included Bryce Harper, the first pick
in the MLB draft. The Texas Rangers
chose Drew in the fourth round with
the 136th pick. He received a $198,000
signing bonus.
At 18, Drew was a professional
baseball player. This accelerated
adulthood for him; Drew was not only
paying bills, but also navigating poli-
tics, managing disappointment, and

72 mAy 2022

Inspiration Reader’s Digest

figuring out how to live in a universe he still felt otherwise. In the club-
designed to weed out the weak. house, he questioned every answer
he gave to reporters. On the field, he
Drew’s brother already lived this second-guessed minutiae—how he
reality. The 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls stood during the national anthem,
for workouts. The long bus rides. how he looked running to his position
The arm surgeries. Had Drew and between innings.
Chad spoken more, Drew would have
known how pro ball worked—how In December 2018, the Rangers
its physical elements paled in com- traded Drew to the St. Louis Cardi-
parison to its mental toll. But talking nals. He decided this would be a fresh
wasn’t their thing. Drew would have start. He proposed to Daiana. She said
to navigate the harsh learning curve yes and they set a wedding date.
on his own, including years of strug-
gling to ascend through the ranks of A QUESTION BREWED IN
the minor leagues. HIS MIND: WHO WOULD
CARE IF I’M GONE? HE
Baseball exposed cracks in his fa-
cade of stability. His adoration for the COULDN’T ANSWER.
game vacillated. He loved baseball
one day and loathed it the next.

“I DID IT.” That was the text Drew Drew made the Cardinals’ big
sent his family after being told he had league roster out of spring training,
made the Rangers’ opening day roster but a week into the season, he was
in 2017. This was the dream. sent down to Triple-A. He returned on
March 31, played three games, then
Drew got two at-bats in the Rangers’ was sent back down. He returned on
third game. Seven days later, he was April 15 and was demoted again the
demoted to Triple-A. The big leagues next day. Up April 22, down April 23.
can be cruel this way. He hurt his non-throwing left elbow
and needed surgery. On August 28,
He returned to the majors on May 2019, the Cardinals released him.
28 and was sent back down on the
29th. He got called up again on June The companion’s voice grew louder,
24, hammered a home run for his first and Drew grew more depressed.
major league hit on the 25th, and was He knew that he needed help, so he
demoted on the 26th. The Rangers started to see a therapist and read
summoned him again on July 7, and self-development books. He wanted
he remained with the team for the rest to see himself the way he believed
of the season. everyone else saw themselves.

Finally, he was a big leaguer. Al- The San Francisco Giants signed
though Drew acted as if he belonged,

Rd.com 73

Reader’s Digest

Drew to a nonguaranteed minor filled a cup with water and, to help
league contract on January 6, 2020. He with the pain, swallowed a Tylenol.
worried he was destined to end up in
the minors again. He worried that he Walking back to his room, he
wasn’t good enough for Daiana, and stopped in the bathroom and looked
that he never would be. Drew called at his face. It was unrecognizable. The
off the wedding. bullet had mangled his right eye.

A question brewed in his mind: He thought about baseball, whether
Who would care if I’m gone? When anyone could play with one eye. He
he couldn’t answer, he started to plan wondered if thinking about the future
his death. meant he was trying to survive. That
Tylenol—was it some subconscious
HE STOPPED IN THE sign that he wanted to heal?
BATHROOM AND
Around 3:30 p.m., Drew was sitting
LOOKED AT HIS FACE. IT in the same spot on the couch where
WAS UNRECOGNIZABLE. he had shot himself. On his coffee
table were his gun and his cell phone.
On March 12, 2020, COVID-19 shut He picked up the pistol with his left
down baseball. Drew returned to his hand. He held the phone in his right
empty house in Las Vegas. A week hand. He punched in the numbers
later, he went to a gun store to pur- 9-1-1. He could pull the trigger. Or
chase a weapon. he could tap the green dial button.

AT 7 A.M. on April 17, Drew woke It came to him, he says, in an
up, and the pain finally hit. When he instant. I want to live, Drew told
moved, pieces of his face shifted. He himself. He called 9-1-1. “I need
considered getting the gun and trying an ambulance,” he said. “I tried to
again. For hours, he slipped in and
out of consciousness.

The pain worsened. He tried to sit
up but collapsed onto the floor. He
was thirsty. He mustered the strength
to stand. He lurched into the kitchen,

Drew in training. He began
playing baseball again just months

after trying to take his own life.

74 mAY 2022 | Rd.com

Inspiration

Bridget Bennett (3) commit suicide last night, and I made took about two hours and returned
it through. I have a huge hole in my most of the symmetry to his face. The
head and I’m in a lot of pain.” third was to fix the fracture in his si­
nus and stem the leakage of cerebro­
Police rushed to his house. At spinal fluid.
3:57  p.m., Drew was loaded into an
ambulance for transport to Univer­ Drew’s right eye was beyond re­
sity Medical Center Trauma Center in pair. The bullet shredded its insides
Las Vegas. and severed the optic nerve. On
June 11, UMC Trauma scheduled a
A 9 MILLIMETER bullet exits a hand­ fourth surgery, an enucleation—the
gun traveling upwards of 750 mph. removal of Drew’s eye. The eye globe
When the bullet entered Drew’s head, was replaced with an implant, which
it almost immediately ruptured his left room in front for a prosthetic eye.
right eyeball. It also fractured his
frontal sinus, causing the leakage Hitting major league pitches, even
of cerebrospinal fluid, which poses with two working eyes, is extraordi­
significant infection risk. The bullet narily difficult. Doing so with one—
whistled past his left orbital floor and and the rear eye at that—is next
out above his left cheekbone, milli­ to impossible. Only one man has
meters from ruining his other eye. lost an eye and played in the ma­
jor leagues: Whammy Douglas, who
Doctors worked wonders put­ pitched 47 innings for the Pittsburgh
ting Drew back together physically. Pirates in 1957.
The first surgery was to save his right
eyelid. The second replaced the shat­ Drew began playing baseball again
tered bones around it. The procedure that July, just 14 weeks after trying to
take his own life. He progressed from

Reader’s Digest

batting off a tee indoors to fending off
live pitches in a stadium. On October
21, 2020, a ball left his bat and went
hissing toward right-center field at Las
Vegas Ballpark, the Triple-A stadium
where local pros go for offseason hit-
ting sessions. None of his previous
30 or so swings had yielded a home
run, but this ball snuck over the fence.

Drew took a slight skip and jogged
to first base. He stopped there. He’d
save the full trot for a game—on the
off chance that someone might offer
him a chance to play again.

DREW REMAINED IN touch with the Top: Drew throws the ceremonial first pitch
Giants after getting out of the hospi-
tal. In late summer, he asked whether at Wrigley Field in Chicago on September
he could speak to the organization’s
players and staff in recognition of 10, 2021. Bottom: With his dog, Ellie.
World Suicide Prevention Day on Sep-
tember 10. Drew figured that if he was 9-1-1. That night, not only was my life
going to help others, telling his story saved, but it was restarted.”
would be the most impactful way to
do it. The Giants welcomed the idea. Drew spoke for seven minutes. He
covered the importance of talking
Drew arrived at Oracle Park on about mental health, the need for
September 9. He was nervous. The support from others, and his inten-
players, coaches, and other staff tion to give baseball another shot. He
gathered around him. He grabbed
the microphone.

“First, I just want to say thank you
for everything,” Drew said. “What
I’ve been through the last couple of
months has been the most powerful
experience.”

Drew took a deep breath before
he continued.

“April 16, around 8 p.m., I shot my-
self in the head. A day later, I dialed

76 mAy 2022

Inspiration

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty imaGes (top). BriDGet BeNNett (Bottom) saw people crying. Drew left San Fran- still in Las Vegas, Drew’s bat made
cisco that day feeling content: If this contact. The ball soared high and far,
was the last thing he ever did with the and landed over the back wall. He had
Giants, he felt good about it. hit a home run, the first of three he
would go on to hit last year.
ON OCTOBER 22, the day after he hit
the home run, Drew panicked. He But midseason, Drew decided to
saw he had missed a text from Giants retire—from playing, not from the
manager Gabe Kapler. “You awake?” game itself. Amid his on-field strug-
it read. gles, Drew discussed and ultimately
took a job with the Giants’ front of-
Drew called back. When they spoke, fice as a mental health advocate. He
Gabe told Drew that the organization wrote on Instagram: “For the Giants
cared about him. They wanted people to believe I can help other players ad-
like him around. And they believed he dress their emotional well-being is
could still play major league baseball. truly humbling.” Drew ended his post
with gratitude, saying to his friends,
The Giants offered Drew a contract family, teammates, and, “most im-
with an invitation to minor league portantly, to Daiana, my everything.
spring training. He wouldn’t be I thank you.”
in the same clubhouse as the big
league players. There wouldn’t be any IN THE DRAWER of Drew’s nightstand
guaranteed money or a roster spot. lies a small box. Inside is the bullet
But he would get the chance to work that burrowed through his head and
his way there. changed his life. Sometimes he’ll
remove it, roll it between his index
Drew couldn’t thank Gabe enough. finger and thumb, and remind him-
He was going to play baseball again. self where he was then and where he
is now.
FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL spring
training, Drew started for the Sacra- “I look at this thing and think,
mento River Cats in their first game I’m stronger than you,” he says. “I’m
of the season on May 6, 2021, against stronger than I thought I was.” RD
the Las Vegas Aviators. Playing once
again in the same city where he was If you or someone you know is
born and raised—and where he al- having thoughts of suicide or is
most died—Drew struggled. He struck in emotional distress, contact the
out in each of his four at-bats. But the National Suicide Prevention Life-
crowd still acknowledged him with line at 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or at
vociferous cheers, marveling at his suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
remarkable comeback.
espN (FeBruary 2, 2021), copyriGht © 2021 By espN
Then, in his fourth game back, and

Rd.com 77

HEALTH

HOW OUR

OWN CELLS

CAN

HEAL US

Breakthrough treatments in
what’s called regenerative medicine

can be a lifesaver.

By Patricia Pearson

78 may 2022

Reader’s Digest
Rd.com 79

Reader’s Digest

ANNISSA JOBB first limped into the held the pain at bay for anywhere previous spread: sTeve GsCHMeissNer/sCieNCe sourCe. NeTwork: iHor lisHCHysHyN/GeTTy iMaGes
office of Riam Shammaa, MD, a sports from a few days to a few weeks, but
medicine doctor and pain specialist in then it always returned.
Toronto, in 2017. Jobb had been work-
ing as an aide in long-term care facili- Historically, the treatment of
ties when her back pain first appeared chronic back pain has been less than
about a decade earlier. The cause: an ideal, sometimes causing patients
undiagnosed herniated disc, which to become addicted to opioids or to
had pinched a nerve. As the pain undergo major—often unsuccessful—
worsened, Jobb gritted her teeth and spinal-fusion surgery, which is suit-
tried to keep going. Now she was des- able for only about 1 in 20 patients.
perate for help. Hunting for a solution beyond these
limited options, Dr. Shammaa turned
“It’s been my calling in life, taking to stem cells—the building-block
care of people,” says Jobb, now 55. But cells found not just in embryos, but
working with frail seniors involves a also in various tissues in adult bod-
lot of lifting, bending, and pulling. “I ies—which can generate an array of
had a drawer full of pain medication. different cells. Specifically, he’d been
None of it was working. I’d snap,” she studying bone marrow stem cells,
says. “My husband and I came close to and he invited Jobb to participate in a
getting divorced.” study with 23 other patients, caution-
ing that there were no guarantees. The
By November 2016, Jobb could procedure would use Jobb’s own bone
scarcely walk even a short distance. marrow, and it had been proved safe.
“My doctor finally said, ‘You will end The hope is that injecting the stem
up in a wheelchair if you don’t stop cells, known as mesenchymal stem
working there.’” cells, or MSCs, into the patient’s her-
niated disc will regenerate and heal
Jobb’s internist referred her to Dr. the damaged tissue.
Shammaa, who began by administer-
ing nerve-block injections, similar to An MRI of Jobb’s spine showed that
an epidural, every few weeks. They two discs were causing her problem,
which was good news as far as the
procedure was concerned. “Out of
five levels on the lumbar spine, one or
two showing damage tells you that the
spine hasn’t deteriorated everywhere,”
says Dr. Shammaa. “By contrast, when
you have five levels of disc disease—in
other words, the spine is really messed
up—there is not a lot you can do.”

80 may 2022

Health

Dr. Riam Shammaa
used Annissa Jobb’s
stem cells to alleviate
her back pain.

jaime hogge The procedure took three and a pain as “beyond ten,” she says that it’s
half hours. It began with the extrac- now a two.
tion of Jobb’s bone marrow—the
most painful step—which was im- When Dr. Shammaa published his
mediately distilled and concentrated findings in the March 2021 issue of
into bone marrow aspirate concen- the medical journal Frontiers in Medi-
trate, or BMAC, then injected into cine, he reported that 90 percent of his
the discs. Guided by a type of X-ray patients gained two to three millime-
called fluoroscopy, Dr. Shammaa in- ters of height that had been lost due
serted a needle through Jobb’s spine to disc compression. And 80 percent
to place the BMAC into the discs. Jobb of them stopped using opioids.
remained awake for the entire proce-
dure in order to alert Dr. Shammaa if T he use of stem cells is part
he touched a nerve. of a field called regenerative
medicine, which emerged
Afterward, Jobb recovered in bed for two decades ago as a way to
two weeks and then, slowly, began to deploy the body’s own cells to repair
walk. A month later she strode briskly tissues by restoring their lost func-
into the clinic, a moment Dr. Sham- tion. Several such therapies have al-
maa recalls with delight. Whereas ready been approved by regulatory
Jobb had previously described her agencies around the world. The FDA

Rd.com 81

Reader’s Digest

has approved stem-cell treatments for Despite these early successes, Dr.
certain cancers, blood disorders, and Shammaa cautions that the science is
immune disorders, but many more so new that it is easily misunderstood
are in use, including skin substitutes and misapplied. “There are a lot of
for treating burns and healing surgical snake-oil salesmen out there,” he says,
incisions. As researchers report from pointing to private stem-cell clinics
clinical trials all over the world, the all over the world that claim to cure
hope is that stem cells will revolution- such things as erectile dysfunction or
ize the treatment of many conditions dementia, without genuine evidence
over the next decade. and in defiance of regulatory bodies.
“It’s important for patients to learn
For instance, in a study treating what is possible right now and what
congenital vision loss with retinal is still down the road.”
stem cells at the University of Cali-
fornia, Irvine, one woman was able In the future, says Shane Shapiro,
to see her family clearly for the first MD, assistant professor of orthopedic
surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jack-
PATIENTS PARALYZED sonville, Florida, “we’re looking at
BY SPINAL CORD regenerative medicine as something
that will one day be a medical spe-
INJURIES REGAINED cialty of its own, much like cardiology
SOME UPPER-BODY or neurology.”

MOVEMENT. A n early breakthrough oc-
curred in 2006, when Shinya
time in years. A German child suf- Yamanaka, MD, a molecular
fering from a sometimes-fatal skin biologist at Kyoto University
disease called epidermolysis bullosa in Japan, showed that stem-cell ther-
recovered after receiving a transplant apy could avoid the morally divisive
of genetically modified skin cells at use of embryonic stem cells. Instead,
the University of Modena and Reggio he discovered he could induce adult
Emilia in Italy. The actor Selma Blair skin cells to develop into blood, bone,
reported last August that she was in or liver cells. Dr. Yamanaka, who went
symptom remission after participating on to win the Nobel Prize in 2012 for
in a stem-cell transplant trial for mul- this work, differentiated these cells
tiple sclerosis. And a study on treating from the kind found in a fertilized
osteoarthritis underway in Ireland, egg, calling them “induced pluri-
France, and the Netherlands shows potent stem cells,” or iPSCs. While an
promising initial results. embryo’s cells could turn into any part
of the body, iPSCs could create many

82 may 2022

Health

different types of tissues, but not all. into the eyes of 28 study participants.
This discovery moved the stem-cell One of them, Kristin Macdonald of
conversation past the sensitive sub-
ject of using fetal tissue for medical Los Angeles, who had gone blind, re-
purposes, which is illegal in some gained what she describes as a burst
countries, and the research began to of light. “I can navigate by light now,
take off. and see more contrasts and shapes,”
says Macdonald, now 65. She has
In 2014, Tokyo’s Riken research since become an outspoken patient
institute performed the first success- advocate for stem-cell trials.
ful iPSC transplant, creating retinal
cells generated from skin cells of a Then, in 2018, neurosurgeon Rich-
patient with age-related macular de- ard Fessler, MD, of Rush University
generation, a serious eye condition. Medical Center in Chicago, oversaw a
Shortly afterward, Henry Klassen, yearlong trial with iPSC-derived motor
MD, at the University of California, neurons transplanted into six patients
Irvine, oversaw a trial for treating paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. Dr.
retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare Fessler reported that all regained
genetic disorders causing gradual some upper-body movement and that
blindness, in which a donor’s retinal a patient who was able to only shrug
progenitor cells were transplanted his shoulders could now eat, write,
and do other tasks with his hands.

PhiliPPe Garo/sciencesource.com A regenerative medicine scientist examines a stem-cell culture.

Rd.com 83

Reader’s Digest

This is the kind of breakthrough States as well as in Canada and Eu-
that the late actor Christopher Reeve, rope largely involve simple cell trans-
best known for playing Superman, plants—ones that move the patient’s
was advocating for from his wheel- own cells from one part of the body
chair after suffering neck-down pa- to another, such as the procedure
ralysis following a horseback-riding Dr. Shammaa performed on Annissa
accident in 1995. Jobb. That said, stem-cell transplants
for blood diseases such as leuke-
At that time, governments around mia, which have been carried out for
the world were making moves to several years, are the one exception
restrict embryonic stem-cell research. where cells from a matching donor
(In certain cases, embryonic stem are also allowed.
cells are in medical use today; they’re
derived from leftover blastocysts— Among approved procedures, the
the clustering of cells in a fertilized most common is the transfer of BMAC
egg—that didn’t implant during to the spine or the knee. While Jobb
IVF treatment.) sought treatment for her back pain,
Rodolfo Corsini, now 58, was look-
“I CAN DO ALMOST ing for relief for job-related knee pain
EVERYTHING THAT I when he visited Humanitas Research
DID BEFORE,” SAYS A Hospital in Milan, Italy, in 2020. He
MAN WHO GOT RELIEF hadn’t heard of BMAC until it was sug-
gested to him by a surgeon, Elizaveta
FROM KNEE PAIN. Kon, MD, who didn’t see enough dam-
age to merit knee-replacement sur-
These are still early days, with much gery. Corsini agreed to the injection,
to investigate in terms of safety and and it was a success. “I can do almost
dosing, not to mention the question everything that I did before,” he says.
of how to manufacture iPSCs for dif-
ferent conditions. But Dr. Yamanaka Dr. Kon, along with some European
predicted in 2018 that several treat- colleagues, is now involved in a num-
ments using regenerative medicine ber of exploratory studies, including a
and new drugs would be developed, comparison of treating patients with
authorized, and covered by insurance BMAC and another type of adult stem
as soon as 2030. cell—called stromal vascular frac-
tion (SVF)—which is extracted from a
In the meantime, the first genera- person’s fat tissue.
tion of stem-cell treatments that have
regulatory approval in the United Will it work? Certainly the early
research on BMAC provides hope, al-
though with limitations. “We couch
these treatments as something to help

84 may 2022

Health

with a chronic, degenerative condi- B ecause regenerative medi-
tion, something that in many cases cine is still young, patients
can be successful in managing the should be wary of profit-
symptoms and improving quality of hungry companies selling
life, but in most cases are not a cure,” fraudulent stem-cell products as if
Dr. Shane Shapiro says. “The anal- they were magic potions to cure ev-
ogy should be diabetes or high cho- erything from hair loss to Lyme dis-
lesterol. We don’t cure those things; ease. Instead, consult with a medical
we treat them. What we would like expert on your specific condition to
to see in the future is a way to treat learn your options. “If it’s knee arthri-
arthritis without metal and plastic, tis, start with a specialist in orthopedic
or to treat degenerative disc disease surgery or sports medicine,” advises
without a spinal fusion. That’s the ul- Dr. Shapiro. “If it’s degenerative disc
timate goal.” disease of the lumbar spine, start with
a spine specialist.” Then, seek a refer-
Researchers at ten European insti- ral to someone in that field who has
tutions are currently working together expertise in regenerative medicine.
toward that goal, and also on a way to
skip the painful bone marrow extrac- For many patients, stem-cell
tion procedure that Jobb underwent. therapy is already making a lasting
Instead, says research scientist Mary difference to their quality of life.
Murphy at the National University of “My husband and I went hiking last
Ireland, Galway, they hope to create summer,” Jobb says. “I walked a half-
mesenchymal stem cells in the labora- mile. I was so excited. I thought,
tory in a standardized, cost-effective, maybe I could start cross-country ski-
and high-volume way. ing! Why not?” RD

Turn Off These Turns of Phrase

Lake Superior State University compiles an annual list of phrases that should be
banished “for misuse, overuse, and uselessness.” Among the latest offenders:

No worries
Circle back
Deep dive
New normal
You’re on mute

Lssu.edu

Rd.com 85

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

WLDITEMOAHNEVO!’TEUT
Staying in Kabul meant
death for this Afghan
journalist. A U.S. naval
officer and a reporter were
ready to help her flee the
Taliban—if she could make
it to the airplane.

By Fatema Hosseini with
Kim Hjelmgaard and
Kelley Benham French

From USA TodAy

Reader’s Digest
Rd.com 87

Reader’s Digest Drama in Real Life

THE shouting at the other drivers, nearly
all of them men.
DAY
In the office of the Etilaat-e-Roz
KABUL news agency where I work, phones
were ringing as the Taliban advanced
FELL toward Kabul, on the cusp of taking
over the government.
fatema Hosseini: It seems impossible
that civilization can be knocked back My mother called me, crying.
a few decades in an afternoon, that “Put on your long dress. The Tali-
life as you know it can collapse before ban are everywhere.” She, my father,
lunch, but it did. my brother, and my baby sister were
staying in my small apartment af-
Sunday morning, August 15, 2021, ter the Taliban had ransacked their
began like most any other day. I home in Herat. She was now scared
picked up warm naan from the bakery for me. I should have been, too. I was
and headed to the office in my usual 27, a bad Muslim, as far as the Tali-
jeans, dress, scarf, and sneakers. The ban might be concerned: an educated
streets were crowded. Hundreds of single woman who asked too many
vendors spilled into the road hawking questions and rarely wore a hijab,
vegetables and fruits over loudspeak- a veil that covers the hair, neck, and
ers: “Apple! Melon! Mango!” I weaved shoulders. I was a working journalist,
through their carts among women in
colorful dresses. Kabul must be one of sbilseeTtnoaaciagrinwoTglaadlymeibntyaosnvptoefaiipcrgaehodtwniesotre,hu.eld
the loudest cities on earth.
a member of the oppressed Shi’a
I passed my favorite restaurant, Hazara ethnic group, daughter of an
Taj Begum, always brimming with Afghan national soldier. To a Taliban
hookah mist and laughter. It is named fighter heady with new power, silenc-
for an Afghan warrior princess and ing my voice would be a golden step
owned by the fiercest woman in on the stairway to paradise.
Kabul. She drives through the streets
“Mom, it’s OK. My dress is not
that short!”

She started shouting. “You’re not
listening to me!”

88 may 2022

Fatema, having fun with friends—something the Taliban did not want to see

courtesy Fatema Hosseini. previous spread: © usa today netWorK. What I didn’t know then was that me doing normal things: eating ice
the Taliban had already breached the cream, laughing, wearing silly glasses.
presidential palace. My hair spills out around my face. My
lipstick is a happy shade of cherry.
Early in the afternoon, I decided
to go home, but my colleague said I The Taliban don’t want to see my
couldn’t walk home without a male face. They don’t want to see me with
escort. That’s when I knew it was real. friends from the Asian University for
Women in Bangladesh. My educa-
I took a cab most of the way. The tion and my work are threatening to
shops, bustling just that morning, their ideology. A wisp of hair showing
were closed and the streets nearly around my face is an affront to God.
empty. At Taj Begum, the owner had
locked the door and smashed all the I snatched the photos and dropped
hookahs, because the Taliban didn’t them into a bucket. I lit a match. The
approve of them. A truck loaded with room filled with smoke.
Taliban flew by.
Kim Hjelmgaard: I’m a London-based
As I entered my apartment, I real- international correspondent for USA
ized that all the evidence the Taliban Today. Fatema, in addition to her
would need of my infidel status was work at Etilaat-e-Roz, was a freelance
just inside the front door. I’d covered reporter for USA Today. Her hashtags
the wall with photos of my friends and

Rd.com 89

Reader’s Digest Drama in Real Life

on Twitter alone were enough to get “Hi Alex, asking for a real favor here,”
her killed: #TalibanGotoHell, #Tali- I’d texted along with some details.
banTerrorists, #TalibanNeverChange.
“Absolutely,” he replied, adding,
I contacted Fatema around noon “It’s going to be tough.” The airport
London time that Sunday. “I hope you was already crowded and spinning
are OK,” I wrote in a WhatsApp mes- out of control. He promised nothing,
sage. “Tell me how I can help.” but it felt like progress.

“I wareiTrlplaalltiniehbedeva.ren“rdIwibweief.o”ceuo,”lmd e I’d met Lt. Alex Cornell du Houx,
I 38, two years earlier aboard a U.S.
Navy destroyer patrolling the Persian
She e-mailed me her passport in- Gulf. He had served twice in the Maine
formation, her national ID card, and House of Representatives and had a
a visa application she’d texted to the civilian job addressing climate change.
U.S. State Department. The only se- Within a few hours, he had an update.
cure way out of Kabul was the Ha- “An interesting option from a friend
mid Karzai International Airport. in the Ukraine gov. They have a flight
Land routes out of Afghanistan were with extra seats,” he messaged. I wrote
clogged and dangerous. back thanking him, thinking, “We’re
almost there.” Fatema would go to
I had one more question. “Would the airport, the Ukrainians would get
you be prepared to go without your her through the gate, she’d get on the
family?” plane, and we’d work out later how to
get her to the U.S.
She wrote back. “I think so.”
The next day, Monday, August 16, My First Attempt to Flee
I rose early and started messaging
anyone I could think of with connec- Fatema: On Tuesday, I got a message
tions to Afghanistan. Contacts in the from Ukraine’s special forces to head
U.S. military and members of Con- to the airport, but once near, I was
gress. European diplomats, aid work- called off. Go home and wait for word,
ers, and journalists, including USA they told me.
Today editors, who started calling
contacts as well. That night, I ran into a married po-
Then a U.S. Navy Reserve public licewoman who lived in my building.
affairs officer responded to one of
my messages. “What is your plan?” she asked me.
I shrugged, unsure how much to
reveal. “Well, you’d better make one,”
she said, “because the Taliban have
already started forcing young girls and
widows to marry them. They will find
you and marry you off.”

90 may 2022

Fatema’s outfit let her blend
in at the airport and hide
important documents.

© USA TODAY NETWORK “I will never become a Taliban I gave it to my mom. “I don’t have
wife,” I replied. “I would rather die.” the heart to burn it,” I said. “Maybe
you can.”
I Wait
Kim: Alex Cornell du Houx was work-
Fatema: The next morning, I found my ing with a friend, Iryna Andrukh, 33,
mom sitting on the floor of my apart- a colonel in Ukraine’s military, to get
ment cutting up documents that told Fatema on a Ukrainian air force jet to
the story of our family’s achievements. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Alex sent
My dad’s ID cards, photos in his army instructions to Fatema by WhatsApp.
uniform. My sister’s certificates for
courses in computers. My brother’s Ivan [not his real name], a Ukrai-
certificates from English classes. If nian special forces soldier, was
they were written in English, they assigned to find Fatema at the airport
identified us as people who might and get her through the gate.
have worked with foreigners.
Saying Goodbye
I’d kept a memory notebook since
2009. Inside were my drawings and Fatema: On Thursday, my mother
poems in Farsi and English. My woke me at 4 a.m. She sewed a pouch
friends signed it each year. “I have a into my scarf and placed my uni-
feeling you will be someone powerful versity diploma in it. It was the one
someday,” one friend wrote in 2014. certificate she couldn’t bear to cut

Rd.com 91

Reader’s Digest

airport. The area was swarming with
Taliban fighters searching cars and
turning people away.

Fatema and her mother, Masuma, a year Kim: Fatema’s messages were distress- Courtesy Fatema Hosseini
ing. At each of the half dozen airport
before Fatema’s escape entrances, the Taliban had erected
checkpoints that travelers had to pass
up. When I was younger, she’d taken before they could reach barricades
out loans to send me to the top high controlled by U.S. and NATO forces.
school in Afghanistan. My relatives The Taliban appeared to have lists
and neighbors would say, “She’s just of people they did not want to let
a girl. Investing at this level will be leave Afghanistan. Once at the air-
useless to her.” Instead I became a port, Fatema would have to walk past
journalist investigating corruption two gates until she’d reach the East
and giving voice to women. Gate, where we hoped the Ukrainians
would be looking for her.
I tied the scarf across my back. She
sewed another scarf into a belt that An Impossible Struggle
held my passport and a hard drive
containing some of my work. Over Fatema: I got out of the taxi and right
that I put on a sleeveless dress and away lost my brother, who had my suit-
a jean jacket. I then put on a long case, in the crowd. A militant chased
chador (a shawl covering my head him, and he was gone. My brother-in-
and upper body, leaving room for just law had gone back home.
my face) that belonged to my mother.
When I reached the first checkpoint,
I had no idea if I would see my fam- I faced a huge crowd—men lined up
ily again. I tried not to cry. on one side, women on the other—and
fought my way through. At the front,
My brother and brother-in-law came two militants were lashing people with
with me, because I needed a male whips and firing bullets into the air.
escort now any time I left the house.
Traffic grew intense as we neared the “My brother! My brother is there, let
me pass!” I shouted in Farsi.

Two militants controlled the line.
One of them angrily shoved me
back, cursing me. For some reason,
I couldn’t take my eyes off his crazy,
tired eyes lined with dark kohl, which
made him furious.

“You’re shameless!” he shouted.

92 may 2022

Drama in Real Life

“Look down if you talk to me!” He the plane would leave at 1 p.m., and it
shoved me with the butt of his rifle. was past 12:30.
He raised his arm to whip me, but his
colleague stopped him. The colleague “Where is the North Gate?” I kept
looked at me and said, “This is your asking people.
only chance.”
A man told me to follow the canal
I ran through the checkpoint, leav- around the far edge of the airport,
ing them arguing. I made it to the sec- then get a taxi to the North Gate,
ond checkpoint, where NATO troops which was a half-hour away. I blindly
were standing on the wall. A Taliban did what he said.
militant was speaking, but I didn’t
understand his language. I pushed dAenaTewfax.altAisbtwoheoimmtmybpaytenieabbdru.elhIlseiiwsdtseeg.numtne
forward and saw him raise his whip. I
dodged it and it hit the woman behind I reached a crowded area and
me on her shoulder. I heard her cry- climbed into a taxi. After 20 min-
ing. I couldn’t move, so I just sat, right utes, the cab stopped, and the driver
in front of the soldier. pointed out the airport’s North Gate,
ten minutes away by foot. It was past
“Can you let me pass?” I asked in 1  p.m., and I was still on the wrong
Farsi. side of a Taliban checkpoint.

“Where do you want to go?” At the checkpoint, people were sit-
“The other side. My brother is ting because the Taliban had warned
there,” I lied. “I want to take him that if anyone stood they would be
back home.” shot. Men and women were crowded
I must have looked so pale and together. I was duckwalking to stay
thirsty. My voice was stuck in my dry low. I had to keep moving forward.
throat. “Just let me go.”
Then a tear-gas canister landed in
Lost and Desperate front of me. People started running
and pushing. With tears streaming
Fatema: Alex Cornell du Houx had told from my eyes, I stood and shouted, “I
me to stay by the East Gate so Ivan want to get out!”
could find me. I saw people who had
been waiting here night after night A Talib inches away emptied his gun
with no food or water. They wore next to my ear. I went deaf. A woman
days of dust on their faces. Mothers beside me was hit by bullets. The Talib
were crying. pushed me hard, and I stumbled out

My phone rang and Ivan said, “Go
to North Gate.” He hung up before I
could answer.

I felt hopeless. I had been told that

Rd.com 93

Reader’s Digest

of the crowd. Everything went black. After a few minutes of searching, I
I woke up by the roadside soon found him. He took me to a place
where many Ukrainian families were
after. Someone was giving me water. waiting to get through the gate. I saw
“It’s salty,” he said. I drank it all. the Ukrainian flag rise from the other
side.
I’d had it. I texted Kim Hjelmgaard
to tell him that it was over and that I As we approached a wire fence, a
was going home: “I can’t. I will die. Taliban soldier tried to push me back.
They open fire. And throw tear gas.” I looked at him directly, a man about
my age. The words poured out before
Then Alex reached out. “Pls pause I could stop them. “God, you are so
and think of something you love.” violent. You don’t need to beat people
up, you don’t need to kill them. These
dTohbn“eeY’staoetnueapdereoedonpot’ltouernkuepipleel,dotyphtoloeuem.”. are our people.”

So I did. Dancing in my bedroom to He shoved me. But all my fear
Bollywood songs and singing so loud I was gone. “Look at those troops on
forget myself. My baby sister Mobina’s the other side,” I told him. “They are
laugh. The courage I feel in the morn- waiting for me and watching us now.
ing when I leave the house looking the If you beat me up, they will come
way I want. My favorite passage from after you.”
Azadi, a book about India (the title
means “freedom”): “What we need He let me closer to the fence, where
are people who … are prepared to put I stood as tall as I could, lifted my
themselves in danger. Who are pre- hands to the sky, and screamed, “Ivan!
pared to tell the truth. Brave journal- Ivan! It’s Fatema! It’s Fatema!”
ists can do that, and they have … We
have work to do. And a world to win.” He was standing right in front of
me on the other side of the fence, and
I could try to go home but had noth- sent one of his troops outside to get
ing to go back to. The Taliban would me. This soldier half carried me, half
beat me or kill me or own me. I stayed. dragged me, and I stepped over God
knows how many others who were
Hope waiting on the way through the gate.

Fatema: My phone rang. It was Ivan, Freedom
directing me to meet up with a guy
nearby who he said would help me. Fatema: Ukraine’s air force plane
stayed in Kabul two more days as
the special forces tried to rescue
more people. Finally, at 9:30 a.m.
on Sunday, August 22, I landed in
Kyiv. Iryna Andrukh, the Ukrainian

94 may 2022

Drama in Real Life

© Usa today networK colonel, sent a photo of the two of us, On September 11, I flew to Dulles
all wide smiles and blessed relief, to International Airport outside Wash-
Kim Hjelmgaard. ington, DC, the very airport where,
exactly 20 years earlier, a jet took off
As for Alex Cornell du Houx, I was loaded with passengers, which terror-
the first Afghan he’d evacuate from ists hijacked to fly into the Pentagon.
Kabul. Afterward, he worked with
Iryna and other contacts to rescue Today, I continue to write about Af-
500 more, among them my parents, ghanistan and the Taliban for a USA
my brother, and my baby sister. Today affiliate, Newsquest. Mean-
while, followers of Osama bin Laden
After my family was safe in Ukraine, and others are still in Pakistan and
my mom and I talked about the things Afghanistan, organizing and recruit-
we had left behind. “My memory ing. Women are cowering under black
notebook,” I said sadly, remembering cloth. We still have a world to win, and
that I’d asked her to burn it. some part of that fight belongs to me. RD

“I brought that,” she said. She for- Fatema Hosseini and Kim Hjelmgaard witH
got my brother’s underwear, but she Kelley BenHam FrencH (septemBer 30, 2021),
saved my purest memories, the ones copyrigHt © 2021 By Usa today networK
where I found my voice.

Rd.com 95

HOW TO

Clean the
Things You
Never Do*

More chores? Don’t worry. Just add an
item or two to your regular routine,
and your home will thank you.

By Emily Goodman
and Jamie Novak

*But Should

tmb studio

96 may 2022 Photographs by K. Synold

TIP
Dust your
electronics
very lightly.

Rd.com 97

Reader’s Digest How To

You routinely change advises against using any particular
your sheets, but when descaling agent. If not, mix one part
was the last time you white vinegar and nine parts water
refreshed your mattress? (or two parts lemon juice and eight
parts water), fill the reservoir with
And you run your dishwasher regu- the mixture, and run a drip cycle.
larly, but how long has it been since Pause it halfway to let the solution sit
you gave the machine itself a wash? for about half an hour to break down
Chances are, you haven’t thought to any buildup. Then finish the brewing
clean certain household items in a cycle and run two more full cycles
long while—and might not think to with plain water to remove any lin-
clean them at all, until they become gering traces of vinegar or lemon.
bigger projects than they would be if
you’d given them a little regular TLC. * How often When your machine

If you feel you already spend too starts to take an unusually long time
much time cleaning, don’t despair. to brew.
Many of these tasks are easy to tackle,
especially if you tack them on to exist- FAUCETS AND SHOWERHEADS
ing chores.
* How to clean Fill a plastic bag
We suggest routines for each, but
these are simply standards to shoot about halfway with white vinegar.
for, not literal homework. To start, (Use quart-sized bags for faucets and
it’s enough to notice these frequently gallon-sized bags for showerheads.)
overlooked items more often than you Wrap the bag around the fixture so
perhaps have before. The nicest part? that anyplace where water exits is
As you build them into your cleaning completely submerged in the vine-
routine, you won’t have to pay much gar. Use a rubber band to hold the
attention to them. bag in place, and leave it for an hour
or so. Then remove the bag and rinse
APPLIANCES with water, using a toothbrush to
scrub away any lingering residue.
COFFEE MAKER
* How often Once a month.
* How to clean Over time, the oils
HUMIDIFIER
from all your cups of joe build up
inside your coffee maker. To remove * How to clean Empty all water
them, along with any lime scale,
first check the manual (or manufac- from the unit. Check the filters and
turer’s website) to see whether either replace any dirty ones. Then clean
any mineral deposits with a small
brush and whichever disinfectant the
manual or company website recom-
mends. (Remember to wear gloves

98 may 2022