A pair of modern-day supermen
Published: 28 Aug. 2009, 20:14
Professor, doctor who both suffer from general paralysis meet in Korea
The former, also known by the Korean name Lee Seung-bok, is a 44-year-old medical doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. The latter is a 47-year-old marine geophysics professor at Seoul National University.
Aside from the fact that they both suffer general paralysis and must navigate the world via wheelchairs, the two share a nickname: Superman. They received their monikers independently from media reports detailing their stories.
Each suffered through situations similar to that of the late American actor Christopher Reeve, who played the role of Superman in the original movies. Reeve suffered from general paralysis after damaging his spine when he fell from a horse in 1995, and he eventually established a foundation to assist patients suffering from spinal disorders.
Last week, Lee Sang-mook visited Robert Lee’s office at SNU at the request of the professor, who heard that the doctor was in Korea for a special lecture at Yonsei University’s Foreign Language Institute. The professor was paralyzed after his car flipped over while he was driving in a desert conducting a geological survey in California in the United States in July 2006. The doctor, who immigrated to the United States from Korea in 1973, fell while practicing gymnastics when he was in high school in 1983.
During their meeting, they talked about various topics for roughly two hours.
Much of their conversation focused on how their accidents affected their professional dreams.
“I realized after having the accident that I am an optimistic person,” Lee Sang-mook said. “I was so lucky that I was a professor, not a ballerina or a pianist. I could not have been involved in those two professions after my paralysis. The hope that I could still teach and research kept me from being discouraged. Dr. Lee, you might have gone through a more difficult situation since you dreamed of becoming a gymnast.”
Indeed, Robert Lee said his initial dream was shattered, but he persevered and went off in a new direction.
“I had a dream of winning the gold medal in an Olympic Games as a gymnast,” he said. “The dream of becoming a successful gymnast resulted from the fact that I wanted to be admired by my parents and many other people. I think I tried to be successful since I was a firstborn son. Even after the accident, I did not lose hope and I challenged myself to become a medical doctor.”
The two also shared their thoughts about the welfare system in Korea for people with disabilities.
The professor went through rehab for three months in the United States after his accident. He told Robert Lee that he regrets returning to Korea, as it doesn’t have a well-established system for supporting handicapped people, at least compared with the U.S.
“I was so shocked to realize how well facilities for those with disabilities in the United States were organized,” Lee Sang-mook said. “All disabled people can enter all restaurants without any trouble. They can easily use mass transportation. There is no difficulty for disabled people in moving around all day long.”
Robert Lee commiserated on the state of the infrastructure for the disabled in Korea.
“Yes, it is hard to find either a taxi or a bus that is suitable for those with disabilities, while it is common to find many buses installed with a lift in the United States,” he said. “Except for some restaurants in the Gangnam area in Seoul, I could hardly find a restaurant that had a path for a wheelchair. I wish I could renovate all the roads by building a separate path just for those with disabilities.”
Lee Sang-mook then told the doctor that people with disabilities here tend not to go outside.
“It is my understanding that it is not unusual to find handicapped people on the street in the United States, because there are so many,” he said.
Robert Lee concurred, saying that he is “not viewed as a special or necessarily a different person within American society. It is natural to see many handicapped people working like ordinary people. I think, professor, that you can help make changes within Korean society in helping disabled people be viewed like normal people,” he added.
Lee Sang-mook said he wants “to set an example for the disabled that they also can seize opportunities to work as professional engineers or scientists, as most disabled people tend to study either education for the handicapped or social welfare.”
Robert Lee agreed.
“Take a look at professional golf player Yang Yong-eun and Korean pop singer Rain,” he said. “Korean athletes and entertainers are beginning to win fame on the world stage. I hope many Korean disabled people can also become stars internationally. “
By Lim Mi-jin [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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