David Rose, Deaf Quadriplegic Twitter Sensation, Dies At 24
David Rose, a deaf quadriplegic who became a sensation on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, has died. He was 24.
In an emotional final post on his blog, Dave on Wheels, Rose revealed he was being admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Despite his dire dilemma, David, or “Dave” as he preferred to be called, remained admirably good-humored until he passed away on October 11. Writing about his pneumonia, David said:
“it kick ass on able bodied people who go gym and can lift cars! so i do not know what going happen to me, i have never been to a gym and have been in 2 comas. although second one was very nice because i had silly dreams, mostly about my best friend kate.”
In the blog entry, which Dave asked his sister Nichole to post in the event of his death, Rose adds:
“You are all special. all of you unique! love each other and make each other smile. a good joke is good medicine! make sure everyone around you have a smile ok? always do what is right. always! but forgive yourself if you forget sometimes. i have to go now. i love you all. i really do. you are amazing. i will never forget you!”
Rose was born with cerebral palsy. He was deaf, mute, and confined to a wheelchair yet constantly took humor from his situation. Writing on his Facebook page earlier this year, the 24-year-old quadriplegic said:
“I do not even consider myself deaf, I am just ‘visually oriented,’ lol. I see everything I need to instead of hear it.”
Such an attitude saw David become a hit on social media, which he engaged with on a Tobii computer that tracked his eye movement using infrared light, essentially turning his eyes into a computer mouse. Rose’s story was first uncovered by The Chive, and social media fame soon followed for the Costa Mesa, California native.
His inspirational words and cheeky humor (he had a particular penchant for boob jokes) meant he rapidly collected more than 15,000 followers on Twitter. Amongst his final tweets were typically raunchy missives such as:
my nose still itch and mom still gone so need pretty girl volunteer come scratch it. but rule is you cannot use your hands lol
— David Rose (@daveonwheels) October 5, 2012
RIP, Dave.
