Oley Profile - Rick Davis
Over 1 million vertical feet of skiing, a 23.4 miles hike across the Grand Canyon in one day, a trip to New Zealand and another around the country, and walking 25 kilometers at the first Oley Foundation walk-a-thon – is how Rick Davis celebrates life. He has found it to be very precious, surviving a serious stroke that deprived him of swallowing anything, including his own saliva, in December of 2000. Rick was the CEO of Salt Lake City Convention and Visitors Bureau for 16 years; then one year before the Olympic Games he had worked so hard to bring there, Rick found himself sidelined, at first unable to walk, talk, or eat. He set to work and began the long journey to recovery – first walking a hall, then a block, then a mile. Through perseverance Rick worked to regain all his abilities in just this fashion. What was not to be recovered was his ability to eat, so he put his energies into making his feeding therapy work for him, and found the resources to make that happen through the Oley Foundation. He now works to bring hope to others similarly challenged, reaching out through newsletters, city magazine articles, and professional meetings — wherever he feels his story will touch and benefit someone. True to form, he as brought the 2006 Oley annual conference to Salt Lake City — once a salesman! But what he sells now is hope, perseverance and inspiration — and we are the ones to benefit.