Actor deals with paralysis after backstage injury

is going to need. It takes four people to turn and move him.”

To raise money for Doug Downie’s medical expenses, a GoFundMe campaign has been set up online. As of Friday, about $5,280 had been donated toward the $100,000 goal.

Talking about the cost of his care, Lori Downie said, “It’s going to be horrendous as far as what he’s going to need.”

Doug Downie retired from the Ohio Department of Mental Health in 2013 after 32 years. A job transfer in 2001 had brought the Downies and their daughter, Sarah, now 21, to the Canton area from Youngstown.

Since his retirement, he has done audio-visual work at his church, St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church. Until his injury, he was a site coordinator for Meals On Wheels.

“Doug’s a great brother. Funny outgoing, very caring, very supportive. He’s just a good guy,” said his sister, Barb Friedman of Powell. It was Downie, 12 years her senior, who got her into theater.

“I did my first play, ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ with him in Youngstown.”

Later, the siblings handled stage lighting together at the Youngstown Playhouse.

“He’s had a positive attitude through this, as much as he can, and that’s really amazing,” Friedman said. “He said, ‘I might not be able to walk anymore, but at least I’m able to communicate.’ You have to lip-read when he talks, but that’s where his acting comes in. He overly enunciates. It’s like a game of charades, but it works.”