Alex Rodriguez

Sue Briggs
English 2010 TR 10-11:20am
18 February 2016
Profile
Rip Esselstyn slaying the 5-headed chronic dragon
During a cold rainy night at the Austin, Texas, Fire Department all
the firefighters were sleeping in the firehouse dorm. Then a box alarm
started ringing, alerting the firefighters for preparation. This particular
alarm meant that a fire was occurring
in a much bigger building. All
firefighters got into their station
pants and cotton shirts before sliding
down the eighteen-foot brass fire
pole(5). Soon they arrived to the apartment complex, before arriving
they heard on the radio that another fire department had put out the
fire, they all were relived.
Looking towards the balcony on the second floor of the complex
apartments they noticed a small fire, which seemed to be nothing. Rip
Esselstyns friend Josh Miller told Esselstyn to gear up and prepare to
put out the fire. Things seemed to be under control; all of a sudden a
huge explosion came from that supposedly small fire. They quickly
aligned the latter onto the balcony window. Esselstyn remembers that

another firefighter named Alphonso Dellert, known as Ax also came

along.
They all heard a horrible cry, Help me, Im burning up(6)!
Which was coming from the balcony, the flames were quickly rising,
but this didnt stop them from fighting of the flames. Dellert reached
the window and started spraying loads of water onto the apartment,
then entering the very hot and suffocating apartment. Esselstyn
thought to himself, I have to protect him(7), so then he also
proceeded to enter the apartment. The person that was crying for help
was Fire Captain John Butz. Butz was from the first fire department that
arrived to the fire before Esselstyns fire team came. Butz forgot to
bring the fan that was ventilating the apartment, so he went back to
the apartment without his crew to get it.
Upon arriving to the apartment, the explosion threw him to the
ground, where he lay paralyzed and could only scream for help(7).
Since the smoke made the room so dense, Dellert couldnt locate Butz.
Dellert then knelt to the floor and told Butz to move towards the
window. Esselstyn then entered the apartment and started to wave his
arms signaling Dellert. They both struggled to take Butzs body out of
apartment. Esselstyn aligned his arms with the ladder while Dellert put
Butzs body on Esselstyn; finally Esselstyn dropped Butzs body
eighteen feet from to the ground. Esselstyn was determined to go back
for Dellert who he thought was still in the apartment.

Turned out that Dellert threw himself out of the apartment on to

the wet ground (due to the rain). Dellert had third degree burns, but
Butz was not so lucky; he also had third degree burns but around 70
percent of his body(8). As a result of all these drastic events Esselstyn
mentioned that In the short time all these events took place, I realized
how fleeting our time on earth is(8). This terrible fire also confirmed
my belief that we cant take anything for granted, especially our
health(9). This is one of the main reasons why Esselstyn is committed
to fight off inner fires raging inside of us, inner fires meaning chronic
diseases.
At an early age Esselstyn developed an interest in athletics.
Esselstyn mentioned, After watching the movie Rocky, I immediately
came home and downed a glass filled with raw eggs(9). Esselstyn
thought that foods like steak, eggs, and bacon were foods that
enhanced his performance. Later Esselstyns diet consisting of eating
an all plant-based diet, his transition was made when he graduated
from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, later competing as a
professional triathlete and fueling my body with healthy foods that
were a far cry from what I had known(9). Esselstyn was also inspired
by his fathers plant-based diet research. Esselstyn competed in
Olympic distance triathlon, ranked top ten triathletes, and swimming.
Esselstyn mentioned that the diet worked: I took first place in many

major events, including the worlds largest athletic competition, the

Police and Fire world Games, in 2001.
Noticing that he couldnt be a triathlete forever, he took on the
role of a firefighter while still managing in competing in Xterra World
Championships and was named one of Austins ten fittest people(10).
Esselstyn vast exploration with a plantbased diet was ushering a wave of people
asking him for help with their diets.
Esselstyns response to this: So in 2007, I
devised a six-week study and put more than
sixty people through a gauntlet of before-and-after tests to quantify
the results, which were spectacular(10)! Another reason why he was
passionate about a healthy diet was because Esselstyn had a long line
of history of family members who were physicians, his father being
medical doctor, My father, Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, has always
been by hero(11). B. Esselstyn had conducted research that is still
ongoing after twenty-one years(12).
B. Esselstyn was frustrated with surgery on treating chronic
diseases. B. Esselstyn believed that the core of a chronic problem was
much more greater than just simply treating the symptoms, why not
look at the bigger picture instead. Esselstyn then mentioned that
Theorizing that a healthier diet would improve the patients heart
health, my father put them on a plant-based eating plant similar to the

Engine 2 Diet. He eventually published the results in more than seven

peer-reviewed medical journals including The American Journal of
Cardiology(12). B. Esselstyns results concluded that the plant-based
diet stopped any chronic diseased the patients had before. Esselstyn
later concluded that Now that my father had become convinced that
so many people were becoming
sick because of their diet, he
decided that if he were going to
make his patient eat a certain way,
his family was going to do so, too(13).
Esselstyns new transition later turned into his life long goal,
which was to help others change their diet in order for them to fight
their own fires. Esselstyn took this and created the Engine 2 Diet,
which consisted of the most colorful nutrient-packed foods Mother
Nature provides: fruits, vegetable, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and
seeds(1). That being said, in 2012 Esselstyn spoke during a Ted Talk
about a plant-based diet in order to fight against chronic diseases.
During his presentation, Esselstyn goes on to explain the dragon that
he is slaying, which he calls, The 5-headed chronic western disease
dragon, which is his analogy of explaining, heart disease, breast
cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
After reading the first part of Esselstyns book, his story, and
watching his Ted Talk, I would say I got very interested in this all plant

diet. So soon later took his 28-day challenge, which consisted of a

plant-based diet, essentially a vegan. I wont lie; the first week was
awful, all I ate was nothing but plants! Maybe Im over exaggerated,
but I also ate fruits,
grains, nuts, and different
types of legumes. Another
things that I learned from
Esselstyns story was that
there is a lot of vegans
that are deficient in
vitamins, for example B12, iron, or omega fatty acids. So I definitely
paid close attention to that, but towards the last couple of weeks of my
challenge, I had never felt more energized, healthy, and happy in my
entire life before.

Works Cited
Esselstyn, Rip. "The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day
Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the
Pounds." (2009).

Esselstyn, Rip. "The Engine 2 Diet." New York: Wellness Central

Hachette Book Group (2009).