February 19, 2010 — The SECU Family House is a home away from home for patients at UNC Hospitals. Some of the most inspiring stories and unyielding spirits at the Family House are featured in the “Family House Diaries,” and Jack Newmann is certainly one of those spirits. Although Newmann has been living with severe Type I diabetes and dealing with the resulting consequences, such as being legally blind, for nearly 54 of his 58 years. Nonetheless, he still lives “every day as if its his last.” Not only that, as a retired rehabilitation counselor for the blind, he has the patience and the care to give other patients what they sometime need the most – a friend. Despite his own medical problems and complexities, he makes himself available as a counselor or a friendly ear to other patients and attempts to instill a life of his own at the House.
