Headline: SOUTH
SIDE POLITICIAN GETS FORCED PRIMER ON HEALTH CARE ISSUE
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman
Publication: ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thu., Sep. 14, 2000
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT
Fighting back from stroke
Phil Sgroi was
set to give it his all.
In
the 1980s, he had been a South Side politician, the Democratic committeeman
from the city's 14th Ward.
Longtime political junkies may remember him. Sgroi -- pronounced
SA-GROY -- was a "good government" politician, one of those guys who's
the fly in the ointment of politics-as-usual. In the early '80s, he was a thorn
in the side of Joseph P. Roddy, the then-powerful chairman of the city's Democratic
Party. He was the kind of politician who always tried to get the press into
closed political meetings. He often spoke against the city's entrenched patronage
system.
Like many St. Louisans, however, Sgroi ultimately left the city and moved to Concord Village in south St. Louis County. For several years, he left politics alone.
But politics was
still in his blood. So early this year, Sgroi, 55, decided to seek his party's
nomination for state representative in the 99th District.
Sgroi
thought he knew what to expect: the meetings, the speeches, the shaking of hands.
He'd run for office before.
But something
happened that Sgroi hadn't expected.
On
April 24, Sgroi had been giving a speech, talking about what he wanted to do
if elected state representative. When he finished his speech and went to his
seat, he found that he couldn't sit straight, no matter how he tried.
Sgroi
had suffered a stroke.
With
his wife, Alice, by his side, Sgroi was devastated. He couldn't talk or do anything
for himself. Some of his experiences -- like needing help to use the bathroom
-- were humbling.
To no one's surprise,
Sgroi dropped out of the race. He focused all of his intentions on getting better.
Soon he was able to speak words. Words became sentences. Before long, he was
able to communicate normally again.
He
had to learn to walk again and to do other things for himself. He credits many
of the people involved with SSM Rehab for helping him: Dr. Harmeen Chawla and
Dr. Gerald Erker; Nancy Barrett and Joe LaPorta, his physical therapists; Julie
Treppler, his speech pathologist; and Pam Smith, his occupational therapist.
Every
day, he went through a variety of exercises, including physical, occupational,
speech and recreational therapy. He exercised his mind, too, by watching "Who
Wants To Be a Millionaire."
"Watching
the show and answering the questions allowed him to reach into his memory and
pull out things that he wasn't sure were still there, " Alice Sgroi said.
"It helped him develop his confidence."
Phil
Sgroi said that while he had moments where he was depressed, he kept those feelings
at bay by focusing on what he wanted to achieve each day.
Alice
Sgroi said, "If his task for the day was learning how to hold a cup, he
concentrated on that and gave it his full attention."
The
past few months have not been easy ones for Phil Sgroi.
But he's been gradually bouncing back. With the help of a cane,
he can walk 200 feet now, and he's getting better each day.
So much better,
in fact, that his thoughts are turning to politics again. He hopes to be well
enough to run for state representative in 2002.
And
he thinks his recent experiences have made him stronger and given him new insight.
"I
think what's happened to me has made me much more sensitive to issues that everyday
people face, like health care, " he said. "Health care should be a
basic human right, not a privilege that only the wealthy can afford."
The
issue struck home with him. While his health insurance is covering much of his
care, it won't cover at-home care, and he and his wife can't afford it themselves.
And it's difficult to get help from their HMO.
So
Sgroi works to get better each day, readying himself for a race where he hopes
to make a difference, despite the curves that life has thrown him.
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