Do you believe in miracles?

Charlie Moore does &045; and with good reason.

In the autumn of 2002 Moore, who is legally blind, fell. It was, he recalls, &uot;a terrific fall, but I thought I was all right. Just a little sore and shook up.&uot;

One morning later in the year, his sister, Mary Glenn Pryor, who was visiting from Huntsville, went in to wake Moore for breakfast. &uot;And I couldn’t get up, &uot; he recalls. &uot;My right side was paralyzed. An ambulance got me to the hospital for a CAT Scan, which revealed a massive blood clot on my brain. It had been seeping into my head since the fall.&uot;

The Selma hospital sent Moore to University of Alabama at Birmingham for immediate brain surgery. &uot;My nephew said the UAB doctors gave me less than a 50 percent chance of survival.&uot;

He remembers nothing of the surgery or his week in UAB. His next memory is of being transferred to Huntsville and Big Spring Rehabilitation Center for occupational, physical and speech therapy.

Moore spent three months in Big Spring Rehab Center, which he considers &uot;a place of miracles.&uot;

With a chuckle, he recalls his response to his rehabilitation treatments. &uot;They tell me I got an A-Plus for effort and accomplishment and a D-Minus on attitude. I had a reputation, they said, for being the most negative patient there.&uot;

Those doctors, nurses and therapists, Moore repeats, &uot;did more than help me survive. They, along with a lot of good prayers from many people, gave me a life, a good life.&uot;

After his release from Big Spring, he lived with his sister, who was &uot;a most important part of my recovery during the eight months I spent with her.&uot;

At the end of October of this year, Moore returned to Selma and the house that has been his home since his marriage in 1963. He first moved to Selma in 1956 and to his profession as an advertising/commercial copywriter for radio stations WRWJ and WHBB.

Although his macular degeneration was diagnosed about the same time, he says, &uot;I could still read a newspaper and my loss of vision did not interfere with my work.&uot; Although ill health brought on his retirement, Moore was not content &uot;to go home and sit.&uot;

A lover of history, he volunteered as a guide at the Old Depot Museum more than a decade ago, and rapidly became a favorite volunteer and source of information for museum visitors. And many of his hours were spent at his favorite place in Selma, the Public Library where the Arkenstone Reader is a major enabler in his living independently.

Another factor in his being able to live independently, he says, is his Catholic faith. Members of the Catholic Mission take him grocery shopping and are on hand if needed. However, Moore is a great walker. He explains, &uot;I like to walk and I have been told by my doctors to walk. So I do.&uot;

He also plans to volunteer at the Old Depot Museum &uot;when I am needed.&uot;

His friends are delighted at his improved health, which is obvious in his appearance and manner. &uot;If I had been alone that day, I’d have died in my bed. My guardian angel took charge me.&uot;

Yes, Charlie Moore believes in miracles.