Lee Carpenter Inspires with Inner Strength


Wednesday, 26 Nov 2008, 10:12 PM CST





Former Auburn football star Lee Carpenter is living a life that few people can imagine. He cannot talk. He cannot move anything but his eyes. A ventilator helps him breathe.

Carpenter suffers from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS attacks the motor neurons in the body, which keeps the muscles from receiving signals from the brain to move.

But his will to live and advances in technology have helped Carpenter not only live with ALS, but inspire people around him.

FOX6 Sports anchor Sheldon Haygood talked with Carpenter's wife, Gail, and former Auburn football players Rusty Deen, Terry Henley, and Johnny Simmons.

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Watch Sheldon Haygood's report


"He's got an inner strength like nobody else," Henley said.

Carpenter was diagnosed with ALS at age 34, 13 years after playing football at Auburn Over time, while teaching at Homewood High School. ALS slowly paralyzes the body. For Carpenter, he now communicates with his eyes.

"We sort of worked on it the night before he went on the ventilator," Gail Carpenter said. "We knew we had to find our own way to communicate and that's what we came up with."

Carpenter also "talks" through a computer program designed to use sensors from his eye movements. The sensors allow Carpenter to move the cursor to spell out responses to questions.

The computer has also introduced Carpenter to the internet. Since being on the ventilator he went back to school. Carpenter received a master's degree in just three semesters and now teaches courses on-line.

Carpenter's story is an inspiration to many people, especially his Auburn teammates.

"The character he has -- he's a leader, a great father, he's a teacher and his faith is unbelievable," said Terry Henley.

Johnny Simmons is a childhood friend of Carpenter. They played ball together in Childersburg and then onto Auburn.

"For him to deal with this with the attitude he's dealt with it and the things that he has accomplished is just absolutely amazing," said Johnny Simmons. "The way he has handled it. Lee is a tremedous inspiration not to just those that know him but to everyone."

From time to time, Carpenter receives special visitors.

"We do the talking," Deen said. "Gail says go and we talk and Lee listens."

The 1972 Auburn football team has been more like family to Lee and Gail, helping them raise money or build something around the house.

"It goes back to that '72 team team, that '72 team was so close we were like brothers," Henley said.

Gail said the Auburn family has been very helpful, especially after Lee chose his family over death.

"He (Lee) was just trying to do something until until the kids got out of school and here we've come all this way," Gail said.

Lee's friends say his strength inspires them.

"He's certainly been a champ and we sure do look up to him," said Deen.

If you would like more information about ALS, please visit the national ALS Association website at www.alsa.org.


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