I've never met Matthew Long, but know some who have. He sounds like a giant.
Roger and Me: What His Strike Stole Away
IT'S been nearly a year now since the Transport Workers Union went on strike and changed my life forever.
I was known as a competitor before my accident, and I continue to be one as I fight against the odds to recover from my injuries - though some of them will only heal with God's will. For regaining strength and mobility, I'm putting every effort into getting my body back to normal.
The toughest part of my day is the morning, when I face the mental battle to continue to fight. I have to convince myself that it will get better - just get up and work hard.
This is not where I thought I'd be in life as I enter my 40s. The physical challenges seem to be so much easier than the mental ones; as expected, I have whole days that are filled with anger.
Most of the time, that anger is toward TWU head Roger Toussaint. When I read or hear him say the strike was his proudest moment, I think, Does this man even know I exist? And what has happened to me? Does he ever think about his decision to lead his membership out on strike and what it did to my life and the lives of thousands?
Toussaint's "proud moment" put an end to a very active lifestyle. I was taking my athletic lifestyle to an extreme. I'd started as a competitive basketball player who loved the game; then a desire to run the New York marathon wearing the FDNY colors grew into an addiction to being an endurance athlete, with goals of competing in Kona, Hawaii, at the Ironman World Championship.
Ironman triathletes are the ultimate. Not even 1 percent of the pros we watch compete in baseball, basketball, and football could do what I've done: a 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon . . . in one day . . . within 11 hours. I had just qualified for the Boston Marathon when the TWU took all that away from me.
The accident that occurred directly as a result of Toussaint's "proud decision" also ended a career that I loved - being a New York City firefighter.
Please read it all.
Some background here.
2 comments:
I remember this. He was the firefighter who was struck by a vehicle because he had to bike to work because of the illegal MTA strike.
Jeez, who could forget walking to work in the freezing cold for over 2 hours each way, over two freezing bridges over two freezing rivers each day? Or facing a long cold horrible walk home to Brooklyn after working like a dog all day long. My ankles still hurt from that. Or the $20 dollar cab rides, while Toussaint partied it up like a king in Harlem in out of his heated limo paid for by NYC subway riders.
WHO the hell asked these idiots to be MTA workers anyway? I couldn't care less about them. They chose these jobs, not me. And they get paid more than many do in the private sector.
The only reason Matt Long was biking to work on that morning was because of the strike. It is terrible what happened to him & so sad that his life has been altered this way - I wish him lots of healing & a good recovery. Sounds like he is a true fighter.
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