Oh Doug, You're Not Supposed To Be Here Anyway

This is the story of forty-three years of life, which were deemed medically improbable. It was a blessed life, but was spent overcoming physical problems and dealing with many setbacks. Doug Bell was born with a cleft lip and palate, requiring two major surgeries, and a congenital heart defect, which was inoperable. The heart condition made the other operations very risky, but they were needed for him to have any quality of life at all. He was blessed with an indomitable spirit to live, and in spite of all of his physical limitations, he had a competitive nature and dreams of a world-class athlete and scholar. Doug had the compassion of a saint, the devilish spirit of a rogue and the tenacity of a bulldog. His life gave us an almost constant sense of concern because he lived outside of medical precepts. We had so much pride and admiration for his joy of living and complete faith in a loving Goda]a God who gave him peace and strength.