Help “Office” star Marcus York raise money to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, and you could win a visit to the world’s most famous fictional paper company.
When a car accident left Marcus York paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair at age 22, he didn’t let it stop him from pursuing careers in television, film and modeling. Now, he’s become a well-known figure to the American public as a recurring character on NBC’s The Office.
York plays Billy Merchant, the owner of the business park in which the erstwhile Dunder Mifflin (now a division of Sabre) Scranton, Penn. branch is located. He loves playing the no-nonsense character who controls the office park from a seat of power; however, he has made it his mission to help people with spinal cord injuries to get out of wheelchairs permanently.
Marcus York serves as the Southern California representative for SCICure Research Advancement, a lab dedicated to ending paralysis through human trials with non-embryonic stem cells. According to People.com, the actor wrote to President Obama about the foundation’s work and was invited to Washington D.C. to meet with his special assistant for disability policy, Kareem Dale.
The facts are simple, York told People that “the US spends $15 to $20 billion annually on care and supplies for spinal cord injury victims, [but] less than $100 million is devoted to research.” By supporting efforts for a cure, we can help reduce the massive amount of money spent on care. SCICure’s goal is simple, York told PopEater, “Accelerate research and get us out of wheelchairs as quickly as possible!”
Now, York is using his entertainment industry connections to help SCICure raise $3 million to start a clinical trial program directed by Steven Levesque, a neuroscientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA. By donating just one dollar ($1!), you’ll be entered to win a trip to the Hollywood set of The Office. The winner will receive two round-trip tickets to Los Angeles, a two-night stay at a hotel, transportation to and from the studio, a meet-and-greet with cast members, set visit and the chance to watch the show being filmed.
“The winner can expect to meet a cast and crew that are probably some of the friendliest people in Hollywood,” York tells PopEater. “And it would certainly assist in bringing in the funding to help the millions of paralyzed individuals worldwide.”
Click here to donate to SCICure now.
hi I tell my daughter in-law and my husband to quit babying him/ my son he has little use of his hands so he needs to use them they keep feeding
him holding his glass lifting him don’t even let him try to get into chair how is he to learn if they keep babying him I am his mother i did baby
him a little at hospital but when I realized what we had ahead of us. I stopped it
I still talk baby talk to him and of course he’s my baby I want to but I know he has to get them fine motor skills to work so I bought him toys
that will help I just want him to be able to go fishing again he has always been my fishy swimming since he was 6months old I just can’t believe
this has happened hopefully one day he’ll be able to swim again without fear. what do you suggest? and what about stem cell no dr has talk to us
about it and the electric shock therapy ? heres his story my 23yr old son was in an accident at the lake , he did a cannonball off a 4ft cliff
into 3ft of water. he thinks he hit a rock landing on his back could not move to swim he yelled for help nothing would come out he remembers
drowning then he said he came home I told him no they air care flight to OK city 3hrs away he died 2 times during flight. when he got to hospital
they said he would be a veg. the rest of his life because of no oxygen for so long. he was on life support and all kinds of tubes even one in his
rib cage into his lung he got a blood clot in lung from surgery 2 infection in lung from lake water and pneumonia and kept filling up with fluid.
the surgery he had was a fusion in his neck 5 an 6 they had to remove some of the bones/ vert the x ray showed that the vert was completely detached
and bent an the 2 and 3 lumbar had several hair line frac. dr said his spinal cord was severed into ad that he would be paralyzed chest down the rest
of his life one nurse said he could not open eyes an he would not be able to talk breath on his own ect.. after nurse left I knew she had no idea
because before surgery he had eyes open talking as best he could around tube and he squeezed my hand gave me kisses said he loved me ask me to turn
off machine I said no don’t listen to these people they have no idea he hit his legs I told him not to worry about that right now worry about getting
those lungs clean oh yea his eyes was glued shut for the surgery stupid nurse 3 weeks of hard work he was breathing on his own eating with help move both
arms wrist flt tingly but moved them can point but can not squeeze no more he moved his neck to many times before surgery took them a week to do it as
soon as medicaid kicked on he was in surgery within the 1/2 hr they wouldn’t even give him a brace that fit him i told them i wanted him to have halo
they refused. he had a couple set backs from lungs but in no time they were better fever gone they rechecked to see if blood clot was gone that worries me.
he went o rehab for 3weeks he came home Fri 23 July he finally broke down in tears said he’s being punished, his lower back is hurting the most from having to
lay in bed I’m sure. still has brace on neck for another 6weeks dr said 2 days ago he asked dr if his spinal cord was severed or not cause the social worker said
her papers say it was pinched the dr got an attitude said what difference does it make? told him same thing paralyzed forever told him to go see trauma dr then left.
eeerrrr go see another idiot 3hrs away one way i say forget them go see a neurologist. what do you think? is it normal to get an erection when fondled when paralyzed ?
is it normal to have back pain when paralyzed? is it normal to hurt in your legs when paralyzed? is it normal to feel the urge to pee when paralyzed ? is it
normal that you feel like you gonna poop in your pants but have no control over either ? he is being cathed every 4 hrs and it is Pusey is that normal? did not give him
home care nurse or elec wheel chair, rails / bars , ramps nothing but a manual chair he can not get into hard-less operate it. I had to order bed, shower
chair and it does not fit in my tub gets floor all wet, potty chair lift and it was the wrong one. rehab okayed all of it except the home care nurse or
elec wheel chair, rails / bars , ramps
don’t know why. these Dr’s make me so mad .can you please give me some advice. thank you scared momma and strong ,fighting, bullheaded son lance p.s.
I got him all kinds of stuff for his OT / fine motor skills