Tony Lombardo Wants To Hear Your Stories Of Resilience & Courage

My name is Tony Lombardo.

I grew up on West 7th Street and Avenue T in the 1950s. We moved to West 10th Street between Avenues S and Avenue T in 1966. Health-wise, all was well until I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in January, 1987. I now get around with the aid of a motorized wheelchair.

Long story short, the transition was emotionally taxing. I was convinced that my life was absolutely worthless. I was distraught, hopeless, and suicidal. I was the proverbial “basket-case.”

At the lowest point of my life, I met a gentleman named “Bob” in physical therapy. He asked me, “What are you in for?” This question sounds so much like a question prisoners ask each other (answer: 25 to life…yuk-yuk). I replied, “MS. What are you in for?”

Bob went on to explain that he was a POW for 20 days in the hands of the Viet Cong during his first tour of duty with the Marines in Vietnam. He escaped, found his way back to his platoon, and went back for a second tour. Later, he was shot in the knee. After surgery, he was told that he would never walk again. That’s when Bob told me he was a USPS mail carrier. At that point, I realized that I was speaking to an “Emotional Hercules,” i.e. an individual of unprecedented emotional stamina.

This led me to establish Let’s Hear Your Story (LHYS). Here we post intense survival stories, because we believe that everyone on this planet is a SURVIVOR. Hence, we learn survival skills from each other.

Please send your intense survival story to editor@bensonhurstbean.com to participate in the new Let’s Hear Your Story (LHYS) column in Bensonhurst Bean.

Your participation is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Tony Lombardo