Dave Blake broke his ankle on Christmas Eve 2013. A week later a surgeon put a plate in it, a routine outpatient job. Within an hour he couldn't walk, talk or sit up. In 2015 a leading clinic said he had ALS, the nerve disease also called Lou Gehrig's disease, and five months to live. It was wrong. Now 53, he plans to ride a bicycle 110 miles from Miami to Key West in March 2027.
Gregg Opelka tells his friend's story on the Journal's Monday, Nov. 2 opinion page. Blake started a Chicago company in 2001 that booked musicians, actors and comedians. Opelka played piano at its corporate events. Then came the ice on Christmas Eve 2013, the broken ankle and the plate. When Blake came out of surgery his words were slurred and he couldn't hold himself upright. The clinic put it down to the anesthesia and said it would wear off. It never did.
In 2015 a leading medical clinic told him he had ALS and five months to live. He and his wife, Lisa, wouldn't accept it. Dozens of tests and MRIs followed. In the end doctors pointed to a pre-surgery drug that had since been recalled, though nobody ever proved the cause. The ALS diagnosis was simply wrong. Then came the long part. A year in a wheelchair. Walking sticks. Nineteen broken bones from falls in the first six years. Long distances still mean a scooter, and balance work still takes two to three hours of every day.
Back to work in 2016
He returned to work in 2016, training corporate groups. In 2018 the Sandy Hook Promise group hired him, and he spoke to more than 400,000 people about suicide, bullying and gun violence. That same year the cold drove him and Lisa to Florida. He rebranded as the Flip-Flop Philosopher, flipping what isn't working into what you want. It took him nine years before he could tell audiences the story without breaking down. He told Opelka, “You don't speak about it until you can do so without emotion.” He's 53. A book on making events accessible for people with disabilities is due in 2027. Then the ride.
Our read
This is an Insurance story (M11) and a Health Costs one. A business owner walked into a routine outpatient procedure the week after Christmas 2013 and didn't work again until 2016. That's about two years. Nothing in the essay says how the household paid for that gap. Most households haven't planned for one. Disability insurance is the policy people skip because they feel fine. Blake felt fine on Christmas Eve. The second lesson is the second opinion. A leading clinic was wrong, and the family's refusal to accept one answer is a big reason he's here.
Your check this week is your disability coverage. Pull up your benefits page at work and find the long-term disability line. Look for two things, the share of pay it replaces and whether it covers your own occupation or any job at all. If you own your business, look for the policy you bought yourself. If there isn't one, that's the gap. Blake's recovery is a wonderful story. The quiet part is that a broken ankle can take a paycheck away for years. You check the roof while the sky is still clear. Bring that benefits page to your next review.