Buffalo was home to a little boy called Colin Colson who would have been 14 had he not died from PLE in 1998. I met the Colson family: Colin's Mum, Dad, Grandmother and Aunt who along with his Grandfather founded the Children's Heart Fun to fight PLE. This small charity organised the first international symposium on the condition and personally invited researchers who had shown and interest in the condition. We talked about plans, hopes and the things I had learned on my trip.
I thanked them all individually as both Jack Rychik and Hudson Freeze had pointed to this symposium as the event that got them interested in the condition. I know that their work directly led to the next generation of anti-ple drugs being available just before A needed them.
Colin's Grandmother showed me her late husband's office from where he planned the scientific program for the symposium. He was an Organic Chemist who retrained himself as an expert on PLE She wanted to show me the books he'd used to familiarise himself with medical terminology: The Anatomy and Physiology Coloring Books. (Amazon Link) They weren't on his shelf but it didn't matter, I used the same books to illustrate my presentation in San Diego.
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| Slide from my San Diego Presentation adapted from "The Anatomy Coloring Book" |
My Culture has no adequate way of thanking someone no longer with us.
James Colson, Thank you.
I know I'll be back in touch with the Colson family soon; partly because I had to dash to the airport while we were still talking about how best to work together and partly because I think I've left my receipts for the trip in the back of Tom Colson's car!
Note: I wrote the above in pen in my notebook and am now posting safely at home.
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