Liver Health Stories...
The former Head Coach of the Denver Broncos Football Team, Dan Reeves, was invited to be a speaker at a fundraising dinner in Denver. Thelma King Thiel, CEO of The Liver Health Initiative, was also invited to do a presentation. Knowing that the audience would rather listen to the coach than to the Liver Lady telling them about their liver, she asked if she could be the first speaker. Fortunately, the organizer agreed.
When she finished her brief descriptions of a few vitally important liver functions, Coach Reeves commented, "I didn't know my liver was so important. Would you speak to my team?" Not wanting to miss an opportunity to talk to that many "rich men", she enthusiastically agreed!
A few weeks later, Thelma flew back out to Colorado from New Jersey and drove up to training camp to meet with the team, coaches and "the wannabe" players. They had been practicing all morning and were having lunch when she arrived. Their lunch plates were piled high with steaks, chicken, lamb chops, etc. The dessert table was loaded with three fancy cakes, three different pies and four flavors of ice cream. Stuffed to the gills and exhausted from practicing all morning, they walked over to the auditorium and nestled in their chairs, ready to take a nap. When the Coach asked Thelma if she could do her talk in 10 minutes she laughingly responded, "I just travelled 2,000 miles. . .can you give me 20 minutes?"
As she looked at these hulks she wondered, "How did I ever get myself into this pickle?" Desperate to do a good job, she asked the coach if she could borrow a football?
Holding the football up she reminded them, "This is the most valuable thing in your life right now. But did you know you have an organ that's the same size that's tucked up under your ribs for protection? If you don't take care of it you are not even going to make it into the end zone. . . . because the first thing that goes when your liver is in trouble is your energy, and right now your energy is your money in your pocket. You can decide how much money you want to make by how well you take care of your liver".
Having recently shared this story with some high school juniors at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, we received a very positive response regarding this message that addresses energy and one's responsibility for taking care of their liver. It's the simple story telling techniques and analogies that make liver health personal, thereby motivating individuals to act on the information they've learned.
