With his neck broken and four limbs all but paralyzed, Sullivan, 46, went from 15 months in hospitals and rehab centers into public housing and onto welfare. He languished for seven years, spiraling deeper into self-pity and despondency, he said in an interview, until he became suicidal. ''I had to decide whether or not I wanted to continue living," he said.

NOTE: Driving home today from a quick errand to the local mall I encountered a horde of environmentalists who had picked today to vent their anger over the construction of a new Vancouver-Whistler highway which is part of the overall Olympic infrastructure. It will make the road - one of the deadliest in North America - significantly safer and will no doubt give another boost to surging property prices. But the relatively small price of cutting a few trees and removing some scenic rocks is even for some too much to pay. Confident prediction: their effort to block construction will fail.