GAIL WHITE Stuntman's special effects include anti-drug efforts

Paul Rine's life is the stuff movies are made of -- literally.
As a stuntman for nearly 20 years, Paul has been hit by cars and set on fire. He has fallen from tall buildings and been dragged by horses.
"I hold the world's record for being drug by a horse while on fire," Paul laughs. "Just under a quarter of a mile."
Paul's Hollywood portfolio includes dozens of movies, such as "Tad," "Major Payne" and "The Killing Fields," as well as many television programs.
Ten years ago, Paul walked away from the bright lights of Hollywood and its fame and fortune in search of a different shining star.
"I was visiting a friend in the hospital who had suffered an accident after doing drugs," Paul says, explaining his change of heart. "Then I walked by the neonatal unit and saw a crack baby take its last breath."
Watching his friend suffer from bad choices, and seeing a baby die from a mother's bad choice, changed Paul's focus on his life.
"It hit me so hard," he says, shaking his head sadly, as if he could still see that little baby.
"I started going into schools," he explains. "Talking to kids about not doing drugs."
He smiles and looks sheepishly at me. "I failed real bad."
Western theme
"So then I came up with a different approach," he says, beaming. "Stuntman-vs.-Drugs."
Paul and a coalition of fellow stuntmen built a portable Western town. ("I liked Westerns best," he acknowledges about his Hollywood days. "I guess I've always been a cowboy at heart.")
Paul and his fellow "cowboys" traveled across the United States performing at schools, in malls or at outside locations.
"I made sure the show was always free," he explains. When funds were not available, Paul paid for food, hotels and salaries himself.
While the stuntmen fell off the Western town buildings and shot at each other, Paul shared his message with the children.
"Movies make guns and drugs look exciting," Paul says.
After a gunfight on the stunt set, Paul would invite a child on stage and show him the fake blood on his shirt.
"Movies are fake," he would tell them. "The streets are real."
"It was a little bit of acting, but all from my heart," Paul says of the show. "Kids can tell when you care. That's how you get through to them."
At the end of each performance, Paul had each child sign a certificate promising to say no to guns, drugs, alcohol and fire. Under each child's name was stuntman Paul Rine's signature.
"I told them if they kept this promise, they would be my hero," Paul says, smiling.
A legacy of letters proves he has many heroes.
Health problems
In all good movies, the plot thickens as the characters face unexpected hardships.
Such is the "movie" of Paul's life.
His days with "Stuntman-vs.-Drugs" came to an end three years ago.
"I have several health problems," he explains.
A twisted bowel causes Paul to be nauseated and weak most of the time. He has suffered several small strokes.
Two years ago, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. "It's treatable but not curable," he concedes.
Less than two months ago, at 50 years of age, Paul was admitted into the Imperial Skilled Nursing Center in Warren.
"Something good can come out of everything," he insists.
Though confined to a wheelchair, Paul has found new "stunts" to perform.
He dazzles children visiting the nursing home with magic tricks.
"It's like my career hasn't ended," Paul says, smiling.
He has a daily engagement with one of the residents to play her favorite song on the piano.
Like every great movie hero, Paul ignores the uncertainties of tomorrow and focuses on the possibilities of today.
"I can still put a smile on people's faces," Paul says contentedly. "And they put a smile in my heart."
gwhite@vindy.com