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While interviewing Cliff Bell at Village Tavern recently, I asked why the lenses in his glasses appeared as thick as the bottom of a soft drink bottle.

“Systemic sarcoidosis,” he said, identifying the rare immune-system disorder that attacks not only his eyes, but also his lungs, skin, bones and heart muscle. In the U.S., about 20 out of 100,000 people fight this disease. No cure exists, and no cause has been established. Scientists suspect a genetic link triggered by environmental pollutants.

Bell experienced the first brutal blows of his medical enemy while serving in Vietnam during the 1970s. His own private war against illness continues today.

Many people who are afflicted with sarcoidosis have almost total remission within a decade. Bell was not so lucky. In 1981, Bell spent four months in the V.A. hospital in Fayetteville. While there, he had hip surgery.

Still, Bell held onto his dream of becoming a doctor. After completing work for a bachelor’s degree in science at N.C. A&T, Bell took part in a sarcoidosis study at Duke University. Of the 57 people who participated, only Bell is still living.

Other illnesses and injuries have plagued him. In 1993, while waiting for a doctor to explain why his throat hurt, Bell said, “I crumpled up the pack of cigarettes in my pocket and tossed them away.” Later, when told he had cancer of the larynx, he realized his decision to give up smoking had been the most important step in battling this new enemy. Fortunately, with implants and chemotherapy, he won that war.

More recently, on Aug. 27, 2008, while returning from Durham during a fierce storm, Bell was seriously injured in an automobile accident.
“I thought I would die,” he said. Yet despite broken bones and multiple contusions, those wounds healed by spring.

Bell admits to being a survivor. But people who are familiar with his medical history believe “hero” is a better way to describe this active, affable man. Instead of asking, “Why me?” he asks, “Why not me?”

More than 6 feet tall and possessed with a resolve as tough as steel, Bell hides the scars, emphasizing instead the positives. As he shared episodes from his past, it became apparent that, in his view, every hardship brings fresh opportunity.

During the lean years of a childhood spent in Southern Pines, Bell could have been a poster child for the phrase “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

One of seven children, his parents lacked money to send him to college, and good jobs in the Sandhills were as rare as snowflakes.

So, Bell took the initiative. After receiving his diploma, he left immediately, driving to Chicago. Though Bell enjoyed working in the windy city, a cold winter chased him to New York.

Later, he signed with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, spending 141/2 years on active duty. Bell says he enjoyed the excitement and knowledge gained by traveling to new places and experiencing different cultures. He grinned proudly, saying, “I’ve been on every continent, except Australia.”

Because of illness, Bell never realized his dream of becoming a doctor. Still, he spent hours of study hoping to achieve that goal.
Following his last tour of duty with the Navy, Bell moved to Greensboro, where he earned an undergraduate degree in biology and a graduate degree in chemistry at A&T.

Now laboratory manager at Winston-Salem State and at a research lab at R.J. Reynolds, Bell says he enjoys interacting with graduate students as they prepare themselves to change the world through new discoveries. As he mentors them, Bell encourages them to “be the best you can be. If you mess up, keep the faith and try again.”

This hero has neither the inclination nor the time for complaining. Besides working full time, he contributes his time, talent and money to numerous organizations in Greensboro, where he still lives.

For decades, Bell has been a loyal advocate for the Boy Scouts of America. He also serves as co-chairman of the advisory board for the College of Arts and Sciences at A&T and, along with Dr. Jim Gooch, helped to raise more than $1 million for scholarships.

Bell serves on the board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of the Piedmont and for 14 years has been chairman of the Laymen’s League at Greater St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Randleman.

Family takes priority. When-ever possible, Bell spends time with his siblings, children and grandchildren.

When asked what he enjoys doing most, he answers without pausing, “Going fishing with my grandson Brelin.”

Bell always takes along family members or close friends on his frequent trips to the coast. At the beginning of each trip, he promises, “We’ll definitely come home with fish.”

And they do. If nothing’s biting, Bell simply buys several pounds, then brings them back to Greensboro for a fish fry.

Contact Sandra Redding at sanredd@earthlink.net