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This guy gets it:

Barbaro's will to stay alive live is worth celebrating
courier-journel.com

He should be dead by now, and we know that.
We just don't like admitting it because morbid thoughts scare and depress us. We'd rather hold onto Barbaro's life than submit to his demise. It's a most human sentiment and a proper one, too.
But in order for us to appreciate this horse right now, we have to look at the dark side. It shows us how much of a champion Barbaro remains. It shows us his strength. It shows us that his willingness to confront death, to fend off death, surpasses any dominant achievement he had on the track.

Poor Barbaro? Yes, but how about more Barbaro?
Keep going. Keep battling. Keep showing us even more than we knew you had.

What's harder? Winning the Kentucky Derby by 61/2 lengths or surviving for eight weeks while being required to prop 1,200 pounds on a shattered right hind leg?
Ever sprained your ankle and tried to stand on it for hours and hours, days and days, until it healed? Didn't think so. For the most part that has been Barbaro's assignment since he hurt the leg during the Preakness Stakes on May 20; only his injury is way more painful and his girth way more problematic.

A survivor
Eight weeks ago we heard doctors say any other horse would've been put down instead of having surgery to insert 27 screws and a titanium plate on a delicate limb.
Eight weeks later Barbaro is still fighting.
Four days ago we heard Dean Richardson, Barbaro's chief surgeon, describe how the colt had developed a severe case of the potentially fatal laminitis in his left hind leg, his good leg, and faced "long shot" odds of survival.
Four days later Barbaro is holding steady.
Every day is the same perilous struggle, and there's no clear timetable for relief. His dilemma just keeps rewinding itself.
"We monitor his condition very closely because signs can change quickly," Dr. Richardson said in a release Friday. "However, it's important to remember that Barbaro's treatment could easily continue for several weeks and, if all goes well, even months. Our goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible, and clearly that comfort level will be a major indicator for our treatment decisions."
There are so many things that could go wrong. If Barbaro develops laminitis in another foot, he'd likely be euthanized because the pain would be too much. It might become too painful even without a spreading of laminitis.
He should be dead. But he continues to live. He continues to impress.

There's a positive
Thoughts of what a healthy Barbaro could've accomplished do not matter anymore. What he's accomplishing seals his legacy as talented and tough.
He's teaching us something about horse racing, too. We appropriately put considerable emphasis on what went wrong and how the sport needs to challenge itself on safety issues. But Barbaro's not going to be remembered as a champion who showed us the ugly side of horse racing.
His story is showing us the heart of this sport. We're discovering why we love animals so much. We're appreciating how special it is just to watch a racehorse compete and walk away healthy.
All athletes put their bodies in danger every time they play. But when we see LeBron James or Tom Brady writhing in pain, our thoughts don't immediately wander to death. They do with horses.
I can still hear the screams of a woman at Pimlico Race Course when Barbaro pulled up lame. She cried and yelled and jumped over a rail to yell more. She knew the morbid possibilities.
Barbaro dismissed death that day. He's dismissed death for 58 straight days now.
Can he continue? I don't know. But it sure is amazing to watch him try.

Jerry Brewer, author