Friday, July 06, 2001
Play golf for a child
He is a golf pro who hasn't played nine holes in two years. The last time Harry Alexander walked onto the 1st tee and off the 9th green, the little guy was 5 and the world was perfect.
That's what Harry calls his 7-year-old son, Grant. The little guy. The little guy is a towhead who loves swimming, math and chicken nuggets from Burger King. Grant made all A's in first grade this year and if he had a wish, it might be to run up the steps to his room or ride his bike down the driveway.
Until a year ago, Grant Alexander was a child getting physical therapy for his weak muscles. Now, he is a victim of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as diagnosed last spring. This is a nasty disease for kids, as nasty as they
come.
Sometimes the world flies so off course, all you can do is hold on with everything you've got. Harry's doing that now, with his wife, Terri. He is the golf pro at Miami Whitewater, but his mind is almost never on golf.
When it comes to Grant, Harry has learned never to say “tomorrow.” As in, “I'm too busy now, I'll take you to the zoo tomorrow. If you do that too much ...” Harry stops.
The tomorrows run out.
Time is now
“Any free moment I've got, I'm spending it with the little guy,” he says.
It's awful knowing someone who is terribly sick. The despair is beyond knowing when that person is a child.
Here's what eases the pain. Here's what points a flashlight at the nightmare: working for a cure. Working like there is nothing else, because when you think about it, what else is there when a little boy's life is involved?
“The researchers are very, very close,” Harry says. He mentions stem cell and genetic therapy advances and new drugs to extend life, “so the little guy can be around when they find a cure.”
They need money. There is a bill in Congress now that would authorize $100 million for DMD research. In the meantime, there is a group called the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, which raises money and hope.
Golf benefit
Harry's holding on to his spinning world and fighting the way he knows. He's hosting the Parent Project golf outing in a couple weeks, proceeds to benefit DMD research.
What are you doing July 23? It's a Monday.
Check your calendar. Do you play golf? Do you know three other people who play?
Would you, for a day, stop saying “tomorrow” and get your three buddies together and go over to the Vineyard, one of the best public courses in Cincinnati, and play 18 holes for Grant Alexander?
It's $600 a foursome, for golf, a cart, lunch, dinner, prizes and help for a little boy who didn't ask for any of this.
In 18 years at Miami Whitewater, Harry figures he has taught 20,000 people to play golf. What he needs now is a lesson in faith. What are you doing Monday, July 23? Playing golf to help save a kid's life seems a fine way to spend a summer afternoon.
“In the next few years, it's going to be like science fiction.” This is how the doctors describe the progress they hope will be made against DMD. “All we're trying to do is buy time,” Harry says.
Harry Alexander has dreams for his son. Here's the biggest: “I dream of the day,” he says, “when he can play nine holes with me.”
E-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/daugherty.
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DAUGHERTY: Golf for a child
