From the [New Jersey] Star-Ledger:

Steve Sweeney, New Jersey’s new Senate majority leader, says his daughter Lauren is the “driving force” that inspired his career in politics. He was a South Jersey ironworker and union activist when Lauren was born 14 years ago, weighing just 2 pounds and carrying a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Sweeney and his wife Patti learned politics by “fighting for their daughter’s care against government agencies that seemed designed to make life more difficult for parents like them.”

“When (Lauren) was born, she literally fit in the palm of my hand,” he said. “They told us she had Down syndrome and, I mean, it was devastating to me. I couldn’t talk. I had trauma where my vocal chords were actually paralyzed for a couple of days. I couldn’t talk.

“The doctor told me ‘you were given a gift.’ I almost. … punched him I was so mad. I said ‘Gift? A retarded child is a gift?’ I was nuts.”

Lauren is now a two-sport Special Olympian in basketball and equestrian competition. She also is a statewide gold medalist in riding.

“She will always be the greatest gift in the world to me,” said Sweeney, who also has an 18-year-old son, Stephen.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 7:45 am and is filed under Down syndrome, parents, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post