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COMMUNITY Anti-GMO leader laid low by back pain Supporters rally to help with food, farming and medical expenses for Chris Hardy Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 6:36 PM Updated Aug 30, 2015 at 7:01 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 6:36 PM Updated Aug 30, 2015 at 7:01 PM » RELATED CONTENT • GMO opponents ask for seat at defense table • High Ashland turnout helped GMO ban • 'Our livelihood is at stake' • GMO ban supporters flock to Jackson County offices » Social News Ashland farmer-activist Chris Hardy, the hero of the anti-GMO landslide in 2014, loves to work, play — and fight. He was doing all three, especially the work part, leading up to his appearance at a Medford court hearing in May . Preparation for court had been stressful, with himself as a defense intervenor against two farmers claiming millions in damages from the Jackson County voter-approved  ban on growing GMO crops. And Hardy had been rototilling “brutal” clay soil on his north Valley View farm , working over his computer 10 to 12 hours a day and hiking steep trails in the Ashland watershed, all in the days leading up to the hearing. Then, while doing a high-impact descent on a steep trail, something in his lower back went tweak. By next morning, Hardy was — and still is — in the most agonizing pain of his life: seven to 10 on the 10-point pain scale in bad moments and four or five in better times.  The "tweak" was diagnosed as a protruded L-5 lumbosacral disc.  The pain is there all day, every day, allowing him no more than one hour straight of sleep in almost four months. He’s had to let go of farm work. He's lost 15 pounds. On the brighter side, his online appeals to the community have been met with helpful money, meals and volunteer aid with crops which he can no longer tend. Being a GMO warrior, Hardy, 45, eats organic, of course, and eschews alcohol, coffee and sugar for this battle. He stayed away from pharma drugs, trying all the usual herbs and alternative nostrums, but reports they only reduced pain from 100 percent to 99.5 percent — not worth it. Finally, he did oral steroids, but only enough to take the edge off. More of it dulled his mind and he declines it.  “Pain is a constant, all day and all night. It’s getting worse,” he says. “I can go five or 10 steps and have to stop. Traction every few minutes really helps. If I don’t, it’s OMG pain.”  Hardy’s online posts have brought offers of every alternative healing modality you can think of in healer-rich Ashland, however the pain remains. Friends and healers, some of them medical doctors, tell him he’s “not right for surgery,” being so young and athletic — and he agrees.  “Don’t let them cut you," Hardy said. "That’s what they all say.”  A devoted no-GMO initiative campaign volunteer, Peg Smith, is caretaking Hardy in her country home east of the freeway near Medford for a month. A licensed massage technician, Smith has dealt with many patients, and herself, on this and similar issues and says, “Most pain comes from the soft tissue armoring up to protect nerves, but at a big cost to muscle, posture and pain. This is what happened here and it’s usually got an emotional and behavioral component. He wants to get it over and get back to work (on statewide GMO issues).  “A lot of people love Chris in this community, where 66 percent of voters supported the GMO ban and support him in the lawsuit. If he hadn’t discovered the GMO fields, we wouldn’t have known about it. Then he launched the campaign. As a result, this county is a GMO-free seed sanctuary.”  A native Iowan, Hardy was raised, on both sides, by three generations of farmers, developing a passion for pure food and farming. He graduated in Human Health Development in 2000 from Montana State University and was drawn by romance and adventure to Ashland in 2005.  He is president of the Southern Oregon Seed Growers Organization , a member of the Rogue Valley Growers Market and notes an “amazing” growth of farmers now growing seed in the valley, enhancing economic viability of their farms. He was a co-founder of GMO-Free Jackson County and Our Family Farms Coalition . “I like to play hard and I was doing that 10 days before the (May 20) court hearing, when this happened,” says the resiliently cheerful Hardy. “I miss coffee and can’t wait to get back to my coffee ritual with my friends.”  Hardy has some insurance, but it doesn’t cover the high-level specialists he needs very well. He’s about out of money, he says. An online fundraising drive has been launched at www.mealtrain.com/trains/md63zk , with a goal of raising $15,000. As of Sunday afternoon, 10 donors had pledged $800. Donations may also be made through PayPal (using the email address [email protected]), or by going to any Rogue Credit Union branch and donating to the Chris Hardy Fund account. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 6:36 PM Updated Aug 30, 2015 at 7:01 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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