In July, 1969, Michael Fleishman was 21 and felt invincible. When a Chevy Biscayne crushed his small car in a head-on collision, his family was told by doctors that he wouldn't last the night. Had he not been the fighter that he was, he wouldn't have. Instead, Michael was paralyzed from the waist down.
Michael was one of three sons of Renee and Gershon Fleishman. Before the accident he was a gifted athlete and was studying political science at York University.
Michael wasn't prepared to accept the hand that fate had dealt him. When he was finally well enough to transfer from his wheelchair to drive a car, he decided to live his dream and go to law school in spite of two years away from academics.
While in rehab at Lyndhurst Lodge in Toronto, he fell in love with Sharon Heer, who had become a paraplegic after a car accident in Europe. Michael and Sharon were married in 1971 and moved to Windsor so he could attend law school. He was ultimately hired by the Office of the Attorney General and became the litigator he had always dreamed of being.
Michael loved his work even though many times it was physically taxing. He became the president of the Association of Law Officers of the Crown. He was victorious in many of his cases and was revered for his knowledge as much as he was respected for his fair-handedness and unbending belief in justice.
At the AG's office he found the camaraderie and friendship that enriched his life. With his friends he fed the homeless, mentored the young and took up the cause of those who couldn't help themselves. The rights of the disabled were always high on his agenda.
Michael was a wonderful brother and uncle to his nieces and nephew. He delighted in their baseball games, dance recitals and the artwork they presented to him.
Michael quietly made a difference. When I was cleaning out his office after his death, I came upon a desk drawer full of letters and cards. They all expressed thanks for the help he had given that had changed someone's life: students he had counselled, other paraplegics who now faced the same daunting uphill struggle that Michael had conquered and clients whose cases he had championed.
From a broken 21-year-old, Michael accomplished a life of meaning and purpose that transcended physical barriers and preconceptions. He was a warm and gentle soul, a caring and committed person who believed in his fellow man and who found a way to celebrate life.
Philip Fleishman is Michael's brother.