Photographs by William Taufic.
Obie with some of his smallest fundraisers, students from the Kids Care Club at Tokeneke Elementary School in Darien.
In 1997, Darien resident Obie Harrington-Howes was bodysurfing at Jones Beach when he got slammed by a powerful wave. The then forty-two-year-old had to be airlifted from the beach to the hospital. A carefree day at the beach ended in a spinal cord injury. Obie would never walk again.
“I consider myself a very lucky paraplegic,” says Obie. “It sounds odd, but think about a level of injury like Christopher Reeves had. My hands are impaired but I can feed myself, I can drive a car. If the injury were C7 versus C6—that’s a whole different ballgame. And I had private insurance.” After years of coaching his three kids’ hockey and lacrosse teams, Obie also had a huge network of people who wanted to help.
Soon after the accident, his supporters banded together and formed the Obie Harrington-Howes Foundation (OHHF). “The foundation helped us get back on our feet,” he comments. “We had to find a house that was accessible, and it helped us buy a van. OHHF helps in areas where insurance doesn’t. The biggest turning point in my rehab was when I could drive. I was free again. My hope was that we would make grants that were that transformative.”
Obie now advises the OHHF grants committee and attends all board meetings (having been a grantee, he can’t officially serve on the board). “Having been through the process, I understand what it takes,” he explains. “We have granted out over $3 million in the past fifteen years. OHHF has become a force, and we’re one of the only groups that work at this level. It’s really grassroots.” He also notes, “My wife does a fair amount of pro bono design work, helping people modify their homes.”
Obie continues to work for JPMorgan Chase, where he has been for almost twenty-five years, and fills his free time helping OHHF and other programs in which his “presence and perspective might be helpful.” Obie is president of the board of Star Inc., an organization in Norwalk that offers job placement, a day program, and group housing for those with developmental disabilities.
Years ago, as president of the Darien United Way, he facilitated a grant for the Challenger baseball program with the Darien Little League. Recently he was recruited as a coach. “I went down to deliver a grant check, and one of the participants was in a wheelchair just like mine and challenged me to race him around the field. By the time I got to home plate, I was in tears. It’s wonderful.”
“I was always an active volunteer, but the accident rerouted me to different organizations,” says Obie. “It’s been an interesting ride, and who knows where it will go from here.”