[Music] will ree is an ABC News correspondent appearing on all platforms and shows including Good Morning America World News Tonight with David M and Nightline previously he was a correspondent at ESN will is the proud son of Christopher and Dana reev he served serves on the ree foundation's board of directors and acts as captain of Team reev recruiting individuals around the country to join and support the reef Foundation Community he is a 2014 graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and currently lives in New York City can you tell us uh briefly about the Christopher and Dana re Foundation named in honor of your parents um and its mission to help uh those with smile ort injuries well we have two missions a dual Mission at the ree Foundation we aim to fund and find cures for spinal cord injury which of course was the daily mission of my dad after his injury and then we also aim to improve the quality of life for people living with paralysis and their families who are affected by something as traumatic and often devastating as a spinal cord injury which was my mom's Miss and her enduring Legacy becoming a primary caregiver thrust into that role uh so the like you had mentioned um the foundation's work um and progress uh is geared towards the goal of empty wheelchairs um and it's remarkable uh what are some of the significant benchmarks of progress that have already been uh made uh to achieve this goal well foundation in some iteration has existed since 1982 uh when my dad was injured in 1995 he became involved with an organization that had already previously existed and my dad overnight became the face of paralysis and really turbocharged the spinal cord injury research movement but since 1982 using that as the Baseline we've invested nearly $140 million in labs for research worldwide every day is following my dad's orders really of moving faster better and smarter putting pressure on scientists and researchers and doctors globally to continue to push the pace to not settle for status quo for not to not be patient in their pursuit of a cure and I think because of the coalitions and the networks that we've built at the re Foundation we're able to be at the the Leading Edge of of all of this research that is I think at its core the fundamental goal of the foundation is to be the beacon for this community in terms of finding a cure and so the foundation is broken up into or into today's care tomorrow's cure um and uh you or the foundation has um the paralysis Resource Center um and it's various program and a variety of programs can you tell us a little bit more about the center and the programs so my mom quickly realized that there needed to be a resource for people who are impacted by paralysis so she along with my dad and the foundation and key stakeholders created the paralysis Resource Center in 2002 and it's free it's National it's comprehensive it's just a Hub of information for anyone impacted by a spinal cord injury another hugely important aspect of what we do on the care side is our peer and family support program where you or a loved one or a Community member has a spinal cord injury we're going to pair you up with someone who has experienced what you're experiencing and that could be as broad as another person with a spinal cord injury or it could be as specific as another person from your area who got injured the same way who's into the same things who whatever it might be to sort of help you navigate this new life and help you get the most out of it and to guide you through all of these difficult moments that are sure to arise also we have people who can help out on the caregiving side my mom would have benefited so much from being able to call someone who's been through the exact same scenario as the wife of someone who gets injured and then of course we have our military and veterans program where sadly so many of our brave Heroes come back from combat injured or get injured in other ways and need additional help beyond what the military can provide to them and we have trained people to to provide that for them so that's as about as comprehensive look I give care side of things absolutely you're an amazing individual it's an awesome to um have spoken with you [Music]