Sean Khalil
2002 Sandra Sagear Wall of Courage Honoree
Sean (James, Jim) Kahlil overcame his Polio disability through therapy, exercise and sheer determination, leaving him with only a slight limp. This is how we knew Jim at Plymouth High School. We didn’t know his background of being a bullied polio survivor with leg braces and a limp prior to him moving to Plymouth.
During his years at PHS, Jim was involved in several stage plays, both as an actor and behind the scenes. He was also a member of the Pilgrim Prints and Pegasus staff. Drama Club, Choir, Forensics. Art Club, Key Club and an All-School Musical. After leaving Plymouth, Sean went on to study, most notably Theatre at Bretton Hall College, Yorkshire England and Theatre and Performance Art, Acting/ Directing at New York University.
James Khalil took the pseudonym Sean Kahlil when he left Plymouth, traveling the world as a professional dancer and actor. Later, he became a noted New York photographer before moving to Florida. Still photographing, he is a popular motivational speaker, writer and a prisoner’s rights advocate. Sean’s photography focuses on beauty, fitness and entertainment. He is a compassionate life
and fitness coach as well as a motivational speaker.
We Believe Sean Kahlil exemplifies the courage, perseverance and spirit necessary to qualify to be included on the Sandra Sagear Wall of Courage. Then known as Jim, Sean and Sandy actually knew each other at PHS. Both Jim and Sandy, were active, well-known and well-liked classmates as members Plymouth High School Class of 1969.
Submitted by Deborah Westfall Johnson, Sean‘s‘s friend
& Deb Good Madonna, Sean’s friend
A Letter by Sean Khalil about Sandy Sagear, posted on Facebook June 2019
At my new school, I seemed happy-go-lucky, the class clown. No one would suspect the secret behind the smile. Before moving to Plymouth for high school, in my old grade school, I was a bullied polio survivor, with braces and a limp. By the time I reached high school, thru exercise and therapy, I recovered with only a slight limp. I was overjoyed to be at a new school, with new friends and people that made me feel normal and safe…except for one person. The sight of her terrified me. I’d run to the other side of the hall, whenever she walked by. Her name was Sandy Sagear She had the most sweet, beautiful face and radiant smile, for everyone she saw… and she was crippled by polio. Not lucky like me, she wore heavy leg braces and those wrap around the forearm, metal crutches. Every time I saw her, I saw myself… the self I thought was still inside. I knew If she looked into my eyes, she would recognize me for what I was. Still handicapped … not by my body, but by my mind. So, I avoided her.
It was our sophomore prom. I was sitting at a large round table surrounded by friends, laughing and joking. A popular song came on everyone loved. Before I knew it, the table had emptied, except for one person… Sandy! I turned my chair around, facing my back to her, and closed my eyes, almost trembling. Suddenly, I felt a hand slap me on my arm, and heard a little voice say, “Why do you hate me so much? I see you run away from me, when I walk down the hall. Why?” I turned around and faced her, looking into her beautiful eyes, now starting to shimmer with tears. I never wanted to hurt her, or anyone. Putting my hand on her hand I said, “Don’t cry. I’m sorry if I hurt you, and I don’t hate you. I’m afraid.” I told her all about my struggle in my old school, beat up after school, and the day I stopped wearing leg braces. “I just want to be normal. Do you hate me for that?” “No, I don’t blame you. If I could dance with my friends on that dance floor, don’t you think I would in a minute?”
Something inside stirred my heart. Before I realized it, I swept her up, out of the chair, and into my arms. Carrying her to the dance floor, she was light as a feather. She later confided to me; it was because she wasn’t wearing her leg braces. They kept catching in the toile of her dress. The music was sweet and slow, and we danced the way fathers do, with their little girls. I held her by her waist midair, and she dangled her feet on top of mine. It was a tender moment. Then the music changed to one of those late 60s big swirly orchestra disco cha cha songs. LOL, I did a Ginger Rogers on Sandy!!! I grabbed her a little tighter around the waist and twirled her in a big circle, in the air. Her dress trailed behind her, like a giant swan. I stopped, worried that it might have scared her. She looked at me, eyes popped open wide, and yelled,” Again!!!” I twirled her again and again as she called, “Again!!! Again!!!” My classmates circled around us cheering and clapping I must have twirled her a dozen times, till I was dizzy. I looked up at her, and she was flying free, unencumbered. So was I.
When I carried her back to her chair, we were both breathless. She looked at me and touched my cheek,” Thank you, she said. You showed me what it is to fly.” I thought to myself… “You did the same for me.” And when I thought that I was giving her such a wonderful gift, it was she who gifted me. She showed me what grace and bravery really is. I thought I would be the rescuer, but it was I that was rescued.
A polio survivor himself, James Kalliel took the pseudonym Sean Kahlil, when he left Plymouth, traveling the world as a professional dancer and actor. Later, he became a noted New York photographer, before moving to Florida. Still photographing, he is a popular motivational speaker, writer, and a prisoner’s rights advocate.
A Letter by Sean Khalil about Sandy Sagear, posted on Facebook June 25, 2019
Greetings beautiful friends. Thanks to everyone who sent positive comments about my new projects. Especially in relation to fitness discipline targeted for older people and people with balance and mobility issues. Many people were understanding and supportive about challenging handicap disabilities. Most of my older friends had been touched by polio either themselves or had a family member. But I received a lot of messages from younger friends, with no idea of the caliber of the disease, polio, or even what it is. Before being eradicated by a vaccine created by Dr Jonas Salk, thousands of people died and many more thousands of people were totally or partially paralyzed. Our president Franklin D Roosevelt was a victim in fact. The vaccine became available for all Americans in 1955… Over a year too late for me. Amongst survivors, a lifespan is shortened, and symptoms return in later life. Those who suffered the most were they that could no longer control their breathing… Placed in a metal tank machinery that did the breathing for them. Ergo the iron lung. Because of the Salk vaccine, officially polio has been eradicated from our country. It is estimated that over 20 million people would be infected by polio were it not for that vaccine. Now ,there are less than a thousand cases a year worldwide.
I’ve told stories of my friend Sandy Sagear, a beautiful young lady crippled by polio. This is a different one that my friends in Plymouth School will remember, as a common sight. Our school had no handicap facilities, bathrooms, elevators, handicap stairways. Sandy had many classes on the second floor. She would reach the staircase with her crutches, tuck them under her arms, and sit down on the bottom step. Then step by step she would lift herself up, pressing her body weight and swinging her butt up to the next step. She did that up three landings, never complaining, always smiling.
I lived in the same subdivision as she. And once we became friends, I would stop by her home often. When she was too tired, or didn’t feel like putting her braces on, she would sit in her bedroom window, on the second floor of her parents home. We would talk back and forth, I would tease her, calling her Rapunzel. She had a beautiful laugh, She opened up doors of awareness outside of my immature teenage self. She had an empathy and compassion for life I had closed. It was people like her in my community that encouraged me, giving me strength to hit the road while still a boy, searching for the beautiful world I was sure existed.
A monument wall has been created by an artist in my hometown Plymouth. It is a tribute to my brave friend… The Sandy Sagear Wall of Courage. It is the 20th anniversary of this artwork. Sandy passed away early, her life shortened by the disease. New names are being added to the installation. The selecting committee uses these prerequisites….
“…displayed courage, perseverance, spirit and creativity in succeeding, in achieving an education, despite a physical, mental or emotional barrier, when they were students. In addition, they have shown an appreciation for others and commitment to their community.”
I’m honored to be chosen, to join my name to others who have championed the perils life has provided. I learned long ago never to be defined by my handicap… I took it a bit further. Now I tell my loved ones, ” Never allow yourself to be defined.” We all have our perils… often they are the very thing that forges a great spirit.