Opening an email from a colleague, I gasped, then burst into tears. Although we have never met, Dr. Jacquelyn McCandless is one of my “forever heroes”, and I was shocked and saddened to learn of her passing.
Years ago, family life with my husband was a sunny pleasure cruise until autism hit us like a rogue wave with the birth of our first son. We were swept overboard and plunged into a maelstrom of chaos and heartbreak, all familiar landmarks washed away. Although I am a chiropractor and my husband is a medical doctor, nothing in our training offered help for our son.
After seven years, we were being pressured to place our precious child in residential care. Stumbling upon DAN! and Dr. McCandless’ book, “Children with Starving Brains” was like finally feeling the sand beneath my feet and knowing I was close to shore. I read it over and over and over, astounded that in the midst of her own heartbreak, this doctor was trying to save my child, too.
Her work became a lifeline – for dragging our son back from the abyss of autism, and healing our broken hearts and family. She gave autism families hope, sanity and protocols that worked. Today, our son is a happy, funny, warm young man, an Eagle Scout and attending college in an honors program. Sometimes he takes us aside, and says, “Thanks for not giving up on me. You know where I’d be without you.” Yes, we know where many of these young adults would be without our biomedical warriors like Dr. McCandless. I will forever be grateful to this brave, lovely woman. We can never thank her enough, but we can pay it forward.
Her torch may have fallen, but a hundred – no, a thousand – hands reach to take it up again, and mine is one. Her light shines on.