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Hamilton chose to live
By Lester Chang — The Garden Island
KILAUEA — For most of his life, 28-year-old Kaua‘i resident Moses Hamilton, a surfer, has been active. He said he always tackled challenges with zeal.
So when a car accident in October 2002 a mile from his home at the Kalihiwai Ridge subdivision left him paralyzed from the neck down and wheelchair-bound, Hamilton became despondent.
At that point, Hamilton said he saw only two options for him: He could give up hope for any recovery, possibly become institutionalized for life or die.
Or he could live.
He chose to live.
Moses Hamilton says he is back on the track of life, thanks to the constant support of his parents, Cherry and Hawk Hamilton, three brothers, and medical personnel, all of whom have helped him with his rehabilitation.
"My family saved me. There is no doubt about that," Hamilton said in the an interview with The Garden Island. "If not for them, I might be sitting in a (rehabilitation) room somewhere."
Hamilton said drawing on survival instincts, nurtured and strengthened during years of surfing, also compelled him to make a life for himself after his accident.
A lifelong lover of art, he has learned how to paint with a brush in the mouth, and is poised to become a professional artist.
So far, Hamilton has created 20 paintings, and plans to market them with the help of his family, and have other works reproduced. Hamilton also is learning about computer-generated art graphics.
Hamilton's accident and his drive to make a life for himself have deeply touched the lives of many people and friends, Cherry Hamilton said.
Her son's will to survive, his unflagging optimism, and his attempts to recover from his accident as much as possible have been a bright lesson on life for many.
"Life is full of challenges, and he inspires us all," Cherry Hamilton said.
During the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2002, Moses Hamilton had finished up work as a waiter at a North Shore restaurant and drove home in the rain.
Within a mile of getting home, he lost control of his car and crashed. The car wreckage was spotted by a passerby three hours later.
"Nobody could see me because there wasn't any traffic (by the accident scene) for three hours," Hamilton said.
Hamilton was taken by ambulance to Wilcox Hospital, and when the severity of injuries became known, he was transported by air ambulance to Queen's Medical Center on O‘ahu.
The family received sobering news: Moses had suffered a sever spinal injury that would leave him a quadriplegic. He was put on a ventilator and painkillers.
The treatment, in a sense, locked him in a world all unto himself. "I went through a lot of drama adjusting to the new life," Hamilton said. "I didn't speak for the first four months after the accident because I was on a ventilator."
During the initial treatment, he focused on healing. "I meditated and tried to get through it," he said.
A decision by his mother and father to fly from Kaua‘i to O‘ahu for regular hospital visits rallied his spirits and his will to live, he said.
Cherry and Hawk Hamilton run a family owned nursery in Kilauea, and took turns taking care of the business and flying to O‘ahu to visit their son.
Cherry Hamilton also quit her job at a restaurant at the Princeville Resort hotel so she could spend more time with Moses and help him with his rehabilitation.
She constantly went on the Internet, where she gleaned all the information she could gather about her son's injury and rehabilitation strategies. She said she shared that information with all the physical therapists who treated her son.
She said she intensified her efforts after doctors told the family that Hamilton "might (need to) be assisted all his life."
Cherry Hamilton said when she initially found out about the extent of her son's injury, friends told her to have him transported to Mainland medical facilities that specialize in the care of people with the type of injuries that her son had sustained.
Moses subsequently went to Kaiser Hospital, also on O‘ahu, for more treatment.
Doctors told Cherry Hamilton that it would cost $100,000 to transport her son to specialized Mainland hospitals while Moses was on a ventilator, and "the insurance company wasn't going to cover that," Cherry Hamilton said.
Her son's condition either seemed not to improve, or deteriorated. He had pneumonia, and was put through additional treatment at the insistence of his parents.
"They (physical therapists) would beat on my chest, there were breathing exercises," the Kalihiwai resident said.
Hamilton said he knew he needed to "rise to the occasion" if he was going to take steps toward any type of recovery.
"This (situation he is in) is a survival of the fittest, and you have to have that something in yourself," Hamilton said.
He had made progress in the rehabilitation, but not enough for him to get off a ventilator, which was used to facilitate his breathing.
At one point, the family was considering taking Moses home, even with him attached to a ventilator, his mother said.
"If he had not gotten off the ventilator, he could have gone into a care home. We didn't want that for our son," Cherry Hamilton said. After six months of treatment, and his strength returning, Moses Hamilton was taken off the ventilator, and sent to Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific on O‘ahu, the only comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
His recovery had progressed to the point where he could move his shoulders and neck and a small part of his right hand, Moses Hamilton said. With light weights, he hopes to work out enough to bring some movement to his left hand.
"Every centimeter of movement is a mile of ecstasy," he said.
Just after the car accident, he could only move his neck. While at the medical facility, he began to learn how to paint with a brush in the mouth.
Learning was difficult initially, but as he practiced, painting that way became easier and easier, Hamilton said.
The new way of painting reconnected him to his creative side, he said. When he was younger, Hamilton liked to sketch and take photographs.
Seeing other patients with disabilities paint motivated him to excel at his new endeavor, Hamilton said.
"I saw a guy with a disability painting," he said. Others did as well. "They were my biggest inspiration," Hamilton said. "It inspired me to get passed obstacles, and that I could be strong and not give up on life."
Ten months after the accident, followed by treatment and rehabilitation at three hospitals, Hamilton said with a smile, "I got better," and came home.
Hamilton said he has learned to appreciate every moment and every sight in life now. He paints in a room at his home that is set aside for his use. Art has become a way of life for him.
There are times at night he looks at incomplete paintings and begins pondering how to make them better. Hamilton said he wants to be able to make a living with art one day, and to provide for the needs of a family.
His mother said she hopes all of his dreams become a reality. "He had a high quality of life before the accident, and we are striving to help him get back there," she said. Moses Hamilton feels the same way: "I am not going silently into the night."
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
So when a car accident in October 2002 a mile from his home at the Kalihiwai Ridge subdivision left him paralyzed from the neck down and wheelchair-bound, Hamilton became despondent.
At that point, Hamilton said he saw only two options for him: He could give up hope for any recovery, possibly become institutionalized for life or die.
Or he could live.
He chose to live.
Moses Hamilton says he is back on the track of life, thanks to the constant support of his parents, Cherry and Hawk Hamilton, three brothers, and medical personnel, all of whom have helped him with his rehabilitation.
"My family saved me. There is no doubt about that," Hamilton said in the an interview with The Garden Island. "If not for them, I might be sitting in a (rehabilitation) room somewhere."
Hamilton said drawing on survival instincts, nurtured and strengthened during years of surfing, also compelled him to make a life for himself after his accident.
A lifelong lover of art, he has learned how to paint with a brush in the mouth, and is poised to become a professional artist.
So far, Hamilton has created 20 paintings, and plans to market them with the help of his family, and have other works reproduced. Hamilton also is learning about computer-generated art graphics.
Hamilton's accident and his drive to make a life for himself have deeply touched the lives of many people and friends, Cherry Hamilton said.
Her son's will to survive, his unflagging optimism, and his attempts to recover from his accident as much as possible have been a bright lesson on life for many.
"Life is full of challenges, and he inspires us all," Cherry Hamilton said.
During the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2002, Moses Hamilton had finished up work as a waiter at a North Shore restaurant and drove home in the rain.
Within a mile of getting home, he lost control of his car and crashed. The car wreckage was spotted by a passerby three hours later.
"Nobody could see me because there wasn't any traffic (by the accident scene) for three hours," Hamilton said.
Hamilton was taken by ambulance to Wilcox Hospital, and when the severity of injuries became known, he was transported by air ambulance to Queen's Medical Center on O‘ahu.
The family received sobering news: Moses had suffered a sever spinal injury that would leave him a quadriplegic. He was put on a ventilator and painkillers.
The treatment, in a sense, locked him in a world all unto himself. "I went through a lot of drama adjusting to the new life," Hamilton said. "I didn't speak for the first four months after the accident because I was on a ventilator."
During the initial treatment, he focused on healing. "I meditated and tried to get through it," he said.
A decision by his mother and father to fly from Kaua‘i to O‘ahu for regular hospital visits rallied his spirits and his will to live, he said.
Cherry and Hawk Hamilton run a family owned nursery in Kilauea, and took turns taking care of the business and flying to O‘ahu to visit their son.
Cherry Hamilton also quit her job at a restaurant at the Princeville Resort hotel so she could spend more time with Moses and help him with his rehabilitation.
She constantly went on the Internet, where she gleaned all the information she could gather about her son's injury and rehabilitation strategies. She said she shared that information with all the physical therapists who treated her son.
She said she intensified her efforts after doctors told the family that Hamilton "might (need to) be assisted all his life."
Cherry Hamilton said when she initially found out about the extent of her son's injury, friends told her to have him transported to Mainland medical facilities that specialize in the care of people with the type of injuries that her son had sustained.
Moses subsequently went to Kaiser Hospital, also on O‘ahu, for more treatment.
Doctors told Cherry Hamilton that it would cost $100,000 to transport her son to specialized Mainland hospitals while Moses was on a ventilator, and "the insurance company wasn't going to cover that," Cherry Hamilton said.
Her son's condition either seemed not to improve, or deteriorated. He had pneumonia, and was put through additional treatment at the insistence of his parents.
"They (physical therapists) would beat on my chest, there were breathing exercises," the Kalihiwai resident said.
Hamilton said he knew he needed to "rise to the occasion" if he was going to take steps toward any type of recovery.
"This (situation he is in) is a survival of the fittest, and you have to have that something in yourself," Hamilton said.
He had made progress in the rehabilitation, but not enough for him to get off a ventilator, which was used to facilitate his breathing.
At one point, the family was considering taking Moses home, even with him attached to a ventilator, his mother said.
"If he had not gotten off the ventilator, he could have gone into a care home. We didn't want that for our son," Cherry Hamilton said. After six months of treatment, and his strength returning, Moses Hamilton was taken off the ventilator, and sent to Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific on O‘ahu, the only comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
His recovery had progressed to the point where he could move his shoulders and neck and a small part of his right hand, Moses Hamilton said. With light weights, he hopes to work out enough to bring some movement to his left hand.
"Every centimeter of movement is a mile of ecstasy," he said.
Just after the car accident, he could only move his neck. While at the medical facility, he began to learn how to paint with a brush in the mouth.
Learning was difficult initially, but as he practiced, painting that way became easier and easier, Hamilton said.
The new way of painting reconnected him to his creative side, he said. When he was younger, Hamilton liked to sketch and take photographs.
Seeing other patients with disabilities paint motivated him to excel at his new endeavor, Hamilton said.
"I saw a guy with a disability painting," he said. Others did as well. "They were my biggest inspiration," Hamilton said. "It inspired me to get passed obstacles, and that I could be strong and not give up on life."
Ten months after the accident, followed by treatment and rehabilitation at three hospitals, Hamilton said with a smile, "I got better," and came home.
Hamilton said he has learned to appreciate every moment and every sight in life now. He paints in a room at his home that is set aside for his use. Art has become a way of life for him.
There are times at night he looks at incomplete paintings and begins pondering how to make them better. Hamilton said he wants to be able to make a living with art one day, and to provide for the needs of a family.
His mother said she hopes all of his dreams become a reality. "He had a high quality of life before the accident, and we are striving to help him get back there," she said. Moses Hamilton feels the same way: "I am not going silently into the night."
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
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candyrosh wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:21 PM:
" “The burial treatment plan is very flawed,” Huff said. “It is a clear violation of our rights as indigenous people.”
“We will be staying until further notice and until the state of Hawai�i acknowledges the property was fraudulently sold to Brescia,” Huff said.
------------------------
candyrosh
--------------------
camper trailer--camper trailer "
“We will be staying until further notice and until the state of Hawai�i acknowledges the property was fraudulently sold to Brescia,” Huff said.
------------------------
candyrosh
--------------------
camper trailer--camper trailer "
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