Nothing can slow this firefighter

[Guest guest]

Nothing can slow this firefighter

Ben Sichley has been a volunteer firefighter for two and a half

years despite a common nerve disorder

http://www.eastvalleynews.com/appeal/article.cfm?i=9872

JODI KERR SPECIAL TO APPEAL TRIBUNE

July 18

SILVERTON — Ben Sichley loves to be active, and he loves to help

people. When his soon-to-be father-in-law Alan Mann asked him if he

was interested in being a Silverton volunteer firefighter, he said

yes. That was two and a half years ago. Now he is hooked.

Sichley helps out at Abiqua station No. 3. He puts his fire boots

on, like the other guys, except he wears braces to keep his ankles

from rolling.

Sichley was born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT. It is the most

commonly inherited neurological disorder and is found worldwide in

all ethnic groups. Discovered in 1886 by three physicians, Jean-

-Charcot, Pierre Marie, and Henry Tooth, CMT affects an

estimated 2.6 million people.

People who have CMT slowly lose normal use of their feet/legs and

hands/arms as nerves to the extremities degenerate and the muscles

in the extremities become weakened because of the loss of

stimulation by the nerves. Many patients also have some loss of

sensory nerve function.

" I have a special-made pair of braces, " Sichley said.

His brother , who works at Glenn Barker Insurance, also was

born with CMT.

" It's a genetic disorder, " Ben Sichley said, " but my brother and I

are the only ones in the family who have it. "

Sichley is thankful that he is not in a wheelchair and that he has

his mobility. " My brother has a more severe case than I do, and he

is in a wheelchair. "

" I have been playing sports and soccer my whole life, so I knew the

physical part of firefighting wasn't going to be bad, " Sichley

said. " The only physical signs of the disease are the braces I have

on my knees. You really can't tell. I have a bit of a limp and I

walk flat footed. My tendons don't work so I can't pick my foot up,

they kind of flop around. "

Sichley wanted to volunteer to be a firefighter — as long as he

could do the job right.

" It (CMT) doesn't slow Ben down at all, " said Mann, who has been a

volunteer firefighter for 25 years. " If anything, I am the one

getting slow; I am getting old. "

Mann said that volunteer firefighting has two advantages.

" We offer training, so people can get experience and become

professional fire fighters, and for the rest of us it is just a

chance to help a neighbor, " Mann said. " The most successful

volunteers are the ones that can feel a satisfaction for being there

for your neighbors and ready to do that job even if you are not

doing it on a daily basis. "

Sichley works at Spring Valley dairy during the day. In the evenings

and weekends he works at his soon-to-be in-law's farm. Ben and

Darleen are going to married in August.

" I am proud of him, " she said. " I think it is great. He likes what

he is doing. He really likes serving his community. "