From death to life and love
Listen to this articleOn December 18th 2012 Ron Irwin dropped dead in his home in Burbank, California. He had been working at his computer and when he stood up he could not breath; not a single breath. Quickly he went black and dropped to the floor not breathing and with no heartbeat.
Miraculously local paramedics found him quickly and got him back to marginal life but in a coma. Ron spent several days in the coma, but after 26 days in hospital Ron was finally discharged, still very weak but walking. He carried with him three very powerful memories. One was the voice of a Marine Corps Drill Instructor saying “I did not give you permission to die.” The other was the voice of a physician telling his family that, “If he survives he will never walk again.”
And the third and most important was the sensation of familial love that filled Ron with the power he needed to get up, get out and get better. Much of this has been captured in Ron’s book Live Die Live Again a very good read and available here.
That experience was about as life changing as anything can be. Ron had been severely over weight and is now at prime weight. As for the never walk again prognosis Ron now walks a minimum of 13.1 miles each and every day which works out to the equivalent of 162 marathons a year.
Ah but then there is the power of love. Some of that power has been transformed into artistic motivation. Long an occasional writer Ron now has 14 books in print but something even more dramatic has emerged out of this transformative experience.
Even as a small boy Ron would take photographs and he and his father would then develop the film and make black and white prints in their basement darkroom. For his entire life Ron has loved photography but in the few years following his dramatic near death experience Ron has become increasingly passionate not only with basic photography but with some very creative ways of working with digital images to create something much closer to true art. You may view several of Ron’s more recent creations here.
“While I will never claim to be a Monet or Renoir with a brush, I do believe much of my digital art is powerful and widely appealing.” said Ron. And yes it is good, and when you know just a little of the inspiration behind it, it is clearly a beautiful manifestation of love. Sometimes a second life is more powerful and positive than the first. I am certain Ron would agree.
Photo art by Ron Irwin
David Hamilton attended Northwestern University and his a freelance writer who has written article, scripts and short stories for a variety of publications, including Time Magazine, National Journal, the South China Morning Post and others. He now resides in the Los Angeles area.