Article April 23, 2001 Issue

Facing down disability

The story of one family's enduring love

Name removed by request

DALLAS, TEXAS

Roger Melton, ebullient in his north-Texas drawl and smile so broad it crinkles his whole face, is an uncommonly grateful, upbeat man. His wife, Sue, says Roger's cheer is so relentless it can irritate when you're down and don't want to get up. But she can also affirm that it's Roger's unceasingly positive, faith-based outlook that has held their family together and probably even saved their son Jason's life.

"Jason's being alive is a healing," says Sue, who now, nearly 19 years later, calmly recounts the "life altering" August evening when 13-years-old Jason was left broken and brain damaged by a hit-and-run driver.

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