In Memoriam: Marc O'Regan
A Warrior Healer has passed from our midst
(Article by Rachel Toomim, Wendy Henry, Richard Mandell, and Laura Cooley- from aomalliance.org)
Marc O'Regan LAc, MsT, PA departed our earthly realm on February 24, 2006 after contributing to our profession in ways undreamed of by most. Marc recently returned from working with Operation Heartbeat in Pakistan, where he attended to the needs of earthquake victims. While there, he taught officers and enlisted men of the Pakistani army how to use the NADA protocol to help each other and earthquake survivors. Marc wrote of the experience, "it is funny to see a man doing auricular acupuncture with a machine gun strapped to his back, but I saw it often and the results were good." (see cover story in the March edition of Acupuncture Today and as a feature article in the March issue of Readers Digest)
Marc was a graduate of the Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine, following a multi-faceted career as a Navy Seal hardhat diver, a 100-ton boat operator, a physician's assistant, a massage therapist, and a tourist submarine driver in Guam. Once granted his acupuncture license in California, Marc traveled to Uganda to be a trainer with the Pan-African Acupuncture Project (PAAP). PAAP founder and director, Richard Mandell, L.Ac., is surprised by the blow that Marc's death has been to him personally. "Often I look at photos from our time together in Uganda and I can hear his laugh."
Almost immediately upon his return, and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he joined Community Relief and Rebuilding through Education and Wellness (CRREW) in Louisiana. Requests for CRREW's deployment to New Orleans came from Bear Search and Rescue, a search and rescue team formed from Ground Zero after September 11. That organization sponsors trainings for search and rescue workers. B.S. and R. graciously invites CRREW to regional search and rescue trainings to offer acupuncture and massage. CRREW organizer, Wendy Henry L.Ac., noted, "he was the first one who was able to get on to the staging area with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). When we were called by Capt. Scott Shields to deploy, none of us could organize so quickly and without any real points of reference, like where to go, who would meet us, etc. I called Marc. He packed up almost immediately, diving into the unknown."
In Louisiana Marc teamed up with Todd Shea, of Operation Heartbeat. That association allowed Marc to bring his unique skills to use in Pakistan. Shortly before his passing, Marc and Todd Shea were in the process of setting up an NGO (Nongovernmental Organization) to continue their work in Pakistan and to deliver disaster relief all over the world. Acupuncture services were part of the vision and mission. Marc was also working with Richard Mandell to secure funds to bring acupuncture to war-torn Gulu, in northern Uganda.
Marc was well known among his crisis relief colleagues for a sense of humor and humbleness that could guide us all. In Marc's words, "We, as acupuncturists, can teach others how cooperation and mutual respect for each others' skills benefits not just one group, but our medical community as a whole." In the Reader's Digest article, Marc recalled a comment from a grateful Pakistani, that "humanity is the Religion now."
As evidence of and as a tribute to Marc's huge spirit, Todd Shea and others will establish an organization to continue the work that Marc had begun. Those who had the good fortune of working with him will sorely miss him.
A hard-core zydeco music fan, Marc passed away while out dancing to that music. It is a most auspicious departure for a divinely inspired human. Äand a really tough act to follow.
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