The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 21, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 9, 1994 Page: 4 of 8
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Former president diagnosed with Alzheimer's
By MATT SPtf ALNICK
1994 REUTERS LIMITED
Former President Ronald
Reagan disclosed Saturday
he has been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease an incur-
able mind-crippling disorder
afflicting millions of his fellow
'ftmcricans.
4 '.Reagan's doctors said although
th6 83-year-old Republican ex-
president is currently in othcr-
yisc good health "as the years
o on his health will begin to
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deteriorate."
"I now begin the journey that
will lead me into the sunset of
my life" Reagan one of the
most popular presidents of mod-
ern times said in a poignant
two-page handwritten letter to
the American people "I know
that for America there will
always be a bright dawn ahead."
Reagan who survived a 1981
assassination attempt and later
underwent surgery to remove
fluid from the brain said he and
his wife Nancy chose to go
public with his condition to
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llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Photo by Keith McMIUIn H
yhls course is taught by Keith McMillin
an award-winning photojournalism McMillin
worked for 19 years for the Columbia Daily
Tribune in Columbia Missouri where he won
many awards including the C.G. Wellington
Memorial Award in 1971.
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focus public attention on the
ravages of Alzheimer's.
At a Democratic campaign
rally in Oakland Calif. Presi-
dent Clinton said Reagan's
announcement "touched my
heart in a particular way."
He asked his audience to give
Reagan "a hand as he deals with
this disease" and led the crowd
in a round of thunderous
applause.
Reagan's vice president and
successor George Bush said in
a statement: "I salute President
Reagan for his Courage in sliar-
ing this private matter with the
American people."
The disease which afflicts 4
million Americans and IS mil-
lion people worldwide is a pro-
gressive irreversible brain dis-
order marked by a gradual onset
of memory loss disorientation
impaired judgment and person-
ality change.
South Carolina
By DAVID MORGAN
1994 REUTERS LIMITED
The Smith children were laid
to rest amid the tears of the
stunned horrified townspeople
of the small community of
Union South Carolina Sunday
while the young mother accused
of drowning them sat in a state
prison cell.
The stricken family of 3-year-old
Michael and 14-month-old
Alexander Smith buried the tod-
dlers in a single white coffin
atop a South Carolina hillside
surrounded by friends neigh-
bors police and the media
Onlookers shuffled past the
casket laying purple ribbons of
camera skills
Patients in the early stages can
experience rage and depression
as they helplessly watch their
own deterioration and loved
ones often feel a painful sense
of helplessness.
"We feel it is important to
share it with you" said Reagan
who was known as "The Great
Communicator" while in office
from 1981 to 1989. "In opening
our hearts we hope this might
promote greater awareness of
this condition.
"Perhaps it will encourage a
clearer understanding of the
individuals and families who are
affected by it" he added.
In recent years as the U.S.
population has aged
Alzheimer's has been the focus
of increasing medical research.
Sounding an optimistic note
Reagan said: "At this moment I
feel just fine. I intend to live the
remainder of the years God
community mourns murder of
mourning on the lid and placing
a sign that read "Alex and
Michael heaven bound."
Hundreds outside the church
listened to loudspeakers broad-
casting the funeral service.
The boys' mother Susan
Smith 23 was charged with
murder Friday and was being
held in a state prison in the
South Carolina capital of
Columbia under a suicide watch.
Smith claimed for nine days that
her two boys had been abducted
in a carjacking.
She finally led police to her car
and the lake where the boys
drowned after she rolled the car
into a lake with them trapped in
the back of the car in child safe-
ty seats.
According to CNN Smith's
cdrifessiibh obtained from her
attorney David Bruck said "I
wanted to end my life so bad and
was in my car ready to go down
that ramp into the water and I
did go part way but I stopped.
"I went again and I stopped.
Then I got out of the car a ner-
vous wreck. I dropped to the
lowest when I allowed my chil-
dren to go down that ramp into
the water without me. I took off
running and screaming 'Oh
God oh God nol What have I
done?' the confession said
according to CNN.
Newsweek magazine in edi-
tions available on newsstands
Monday said Smith told police
she stood watching as Michael
awoke panicked and struggled
to free himself.
But Bruck jn an interview with
Reunion
Runaway cancer patient calls home after nine days
1994 THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
Nine days after running away from home
because of painful cancer treatments 16-year-old
Billy Best called his parents from Texas
to say he's OK.
He also said he's not ready to come home and
he needs more time to himself.
"He said he still feels like the medication is
killing him and he doesn't want to do it" Billy's
father William said Saturday.
The call from Billy late Friday and two calls
early Saturday from people he met on his trip
helped unravel the mystery of his whereabouts
since he ran away Oct. 26.
Two weeks earlier the high school junior was
told the chemical and radiation treatments for his
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remains optimistic
gives me on this earth doing the
things I have always done."
Reagan who has kept a low
profile since leaving office also
appeared resigned to what lies
ahead
"Unfortunately as Alzheimer's
disease progresses the family
often bears a heavy burden" he
said. "I only wish that there was
some way I could spare Nancy
from this painful experience."
Reagan's personal physicians
said in a statement that they first
began to notice symptoms a year
ago and recently diagnosed him
in the early stages of disease
after a scries of examinations at
the world-famous Mayo Clinic
in Rochester Minn.
"Unfortunately this time
there is no cure for Alzheimer's
disease and no effective treat-
ment exists that arrests its pro-
gression" the doctors said.
The five physicians who
CNN denied the report and said
his client neither saw the 3-ycar-old
struggle nor made such a
statement to authorities.
The family of the dead boys'
father David Smith arrived with
an escort of more than a dozen
police cars. Family members
arrived in a funeral convoy of
three limousines and 20 private
cars.
i
Michael and
Alex are home.
I like to
think of them
sitting in the
lap of God.
BOB CATO
"Michael and Alex arc home. I
like to think of them sitting in
the lap of God" said the Rev.
Bob Cato a Baptist minister
from Union.
"It's strange that in our inade-
quacies ... we come closer to
God than ever before" said the
Rev. Mark Long.
"We realize our own failing.
We have no answers" Long said
in the service.
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signed the statement said they
would respect Reagan's privaefcj
and make no further comment.
In his note Reagan thanked
the American people for elect-
ing him president.
"When the Lord calls me
home whenever that may be I
will leave with the greatest lovfc
for this country of ours and eter-
nal optimism for its future"
Reagan wrote
A genial optimist known for a
relaxed style and flag-wavinfi
rhetoric Reagan was the first
president in 50 years to repre-
sent the right wing the first in
30 years to serve two terms unu
the tirst to spena a iniuon uui-
lars on peacetime defense or
witness a uouonng oj me minim-
al debt.
He left the presidency with the
highest approval rating of any
departing U.S. chief cxccuUve
68 percent.
brothers
Also on Sunday an attorney
for the mother told WSPA-TV
that she has received death
threats.
"There have been numerous
death threats against her and that
is why she has been housed in a
women's facility of the Depart-
ment of Corrections" he told the
station.
The Union attorney described
Smith as being "very very sad"
but could not say how long state
mental health workers would
take to complete a battery ci
psychiatric tests.
Workman raised the possibility
of seeking a trial outside the area
because of publicity of the
search and the murders. (4
If convicted Smith could face
the death penalty.
According to South Carolina's
The Greenville News on the
night of Oct. 25 Smith drove
aimlessly through the dark ftith
the boys in the back scat. The
paper quoting law enforcement
sources said she was distraught
over failed romances and crum-
bling finances. f
Her thoughts turned to suicide
at the shore of the lake but she
was unable to take her own life
and instead rolled her car irp
the water with Michael and
Alexander strapped into seats.
Newsweek reported that inves-
tigators in South Carolina Irfcnv
Smith had been under psychi-
atric care and believed she had
attempted suicide once before.
Smith's father had committal
suicide when she was 7-ycars-old.
vt
cancer Hodgkin's disease would have to conti n-
ue for his good health to be maintained.
"The reason I left is because I could not stand
going to the hospital every week" Billy wrotn
a note he left for his parents before leaving home.
I feel like the medicine is killing me instead of
helping me."
Hodgkin's disease is a cancer of the body's lym-
phatic system which is used to fight infection!
While the disease is fatal if untreated doctors say
up to 80 percent of its victims are deemed cancer-
free if they undergo full chemical and radiation
treatments. "
Dr. Cliff Takemoto who had been treatinc Billv
said without continued treatments Billy's can'cer
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 21, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 9, 1994, newspaper, November 9, 1994; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92261/m1/4/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.