Don and Lorraine were married for 25 years and over time became both partners in life and work, the two ran a farm together.
After having three beautiful children together, Don was diagnosed in 1995 with ALS, a relentless disease that, in just five years, made him unable to live without a ventilator, so in the last 15 years he could not speak.
But Lorraine did not give up her husband – she remembered that she had promised to be with him, for better or for worse, so she became his nurse, she learned everything she needed to be able to take care of him and to do everything Don did on the farm until then. But what hurt the woman the most was the fact that her husband could no longer speak.
The woman was determined to find a way to communicate with him! So she made a board with letters so that Don could tell her what he meant, letter by letter, but this process took an eternity, if he wanted to say a whole sentence. The one who changed their lives was Mick Ebeling and his team at Not Impossible Labs, a company that creates solutions for people with disabilities.
They invented a device that allowed Don to speak with his eyes, very quickly, on the same system of gaze. The program even simulates a voice! Finally, after 15 years, Don was able to tell his wife everything he had thought for the last 15 years, which was incredibly beautiful!
What was the first thing he said to his wife? There it is:
“My dear Lorraine, I can’t imagine my life without you. You are the one who made the last 25 years of my life fly and you are the only one who made me endure my illness in the last 15 years. I can’t wait for the next 20 years with you. I love you.”
Here is a clip of this amazing story about loyalty, survival, love, and power: