Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Compassionate Side of George
He had a staffer in the 1980’s who was an alcoholic. Ryan, with another more burly staffer, cornered him and gave him an ultimatum: either accompany the other guy to a rehab facility or he would lose his job.
This young lawyer and the problem the staffer refused to acknowledge was so much on his mind that one night Ryan excused himself from a small group of legislators with whom he was having dinner to approach a lobbyist for a non-profit organization that owned rehab centers.
Ryan walked across the restaurant and secured a promise that, if he sent the young man to the organization’s prominent addiction treatment center, he would gain immediate admission. Further, that staff at the rehab center would do their utmost to persuade the young man to complete treatment.
The young lawyer joined a law firm in Chicago after successful treatment, his life forever changed for the better.
Additional evidence of Ryan’s commitment in the fight against addiction was his formation of Sports Teams To Prevent Substance Abuse. STOPSA was founded by Ryan and Lura Lynn athletes from Chicago to appear at rallies at schools.
It should also be remembered that Ryan is the reason that the .08 percent alcohol level in the blood should be used to determine whether a driver were intoxicated. Skeptical, he allowed himself to be taken to a track where he experimented with himself drinking enough to bring his blood stream to the .08 level.
Ryan then tried to drive and discovered on his test drive that drivers are indeed dangerously impaired at .08. Thereafter, he made it a major issue, regardless of the pressure from special interest groups who favored .10.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
This young lawyer and the problem the staffer refused to acknowledge was so much on his mind that one night Ryan excused himself from a small group of legislators with whom he was having dinner to approach a lobbyist for a non-profit organization that owned rehab centers.
Ryan walked across the restaurant and secured a promise that, if he sent the young man to the organization’s prominent addiction treatment center, he would gain immediate admission. Further, that staff at the rehab center would do their utmost to persuade the young man to complete treatment.
The young lawyer joined a law firm in Chicago after successful treatment, his life forever changed for the better.
Additional evidence of Ryan’s commitment in the fight against addiction was his formation of Sports Teams To Prevent Substance Abuse. STOPSA was founded by Ryan and Lura Lynn athletes from Chicago to appear at rallies at schools.
It should also be remembered that Ryan is the reason that the .08 percent alcohol level in the blood should be used to determine whether a driver were intoxicated. Skeptical, he allowed himself to be taken to a track where he experimented with himself drinking enough to bring his blood stream to the .08 level.
Ryan then tried to drive and discovered on his test drive that drivers are indeed dangerously impaired at .08. Thereafter, he made it a major issue, regardless of the pressure from special interest groups who favored .10.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 8:23 AM
