From having three months to live in January of last year to being an outspoken and dedicated activist of the benefits of adult stem cell therapy, Douglas Rice, aged 61, is not to be trifled with.
His mission is to reach the 500,000 American heart patients who will die in the next twelve months and tell them they can get their life back.
A Congestive Heart Failure patient, who also suffers from diabetes, Douglas was saved from a disease that kills some 1400 people every day, but he had to go into debt and travel to Bangkok to do what he should have been able to do in the U.S. "I used my own stem cells and a simple Angioplasty to have my life given back to me," he said.
"These 500,000 heart patients do not make the mainstream press or feature significantly in magazines and politicians do not discuss the issue. The headlines are kept for car accidents and shooting tragedies. No one takes the time of day to pray for the hundreds of thousands - some very young and with families - who die needlessly,"
He is angry at the endless squandering of public money into embryonic research that has swallowed up billions of dollars and produced not one effective treatment. "There is something that works now," he said, "What does it take to make people realize that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?"
"I'm a very lucky man to have found the answer rather than be in an urn on the fireplace. Those of us who care need to educate everyone, but I can't do it on my own, and boy do I need your help!" he said.
He admits to being a dreamer but he is determined to do his best to save the lives of heart patients because he knows that help is available right now.
His first step has been to set up a Website dedicated to providing information and education. He cannot believe that people will not want to get involved. "One day you, or a loved one, may be where I have been," he said.
