Omer Rains

In 2021, in the village of Ullon, India, Rains will be further honored by the establishment of Colleges named the "Omer L. Rains Institute of Paramedical Sciences", as well as a College of Engineering and a Pharmaceutical College. Diplomas from the Paramedical College will be awarded in the disciplines of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Operational Theatre Technology, Dialysis, Medical Lab Technology, X-Ray Technology, Radiology and Medical Imaging.

Today Rains works with indigenous peoples in lesser developed nations. He served as chairman of the Board of Directors of Rural Education and Development, READ Global until 2012. As of August, 2013, READ had built over 67 community library and resource centers (READ Centers) in rural Nepal, India, and Bhutan. His work in the village of Ullon, West Bengal, India, has personal significance, and in 2016 India erected a 15-foot-high statue of him in a Garden of Inspirational Leaders in recognition of his humanitarian work in that country.[14] He has also worked extensively on humanitarian causes in Latin America and Africa, as well as in other countries in Asia.[15].

Rains suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and an associated hemorrhagic stroke in 2002 at the age of 61. Afterwards he was in critical condition for over a month. He recovered fully and in 2012 authored a book chronicling his life and his recovery entitled "Back to the Summit: How One Man Defied Death and Paralysis to Again Lead a Full Life of Service to Others".[4][16] That book became an international best seller and a second edition was published in 2016. It has also been republished overseas and is being translated into various languages in addition to English.

Elected to the California Senate as a Democrat in 1974, Rains served three terms prior to running for the Office of Attorney General of California. His Senate district included over a million constituents in the Central Coast area of California between Los Angeles and San Francisco, including, but not limited to, the Counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara and Northern Los Angeles. Rains served as Chairman of the Senate Majority Caucus (the youngest in State history), as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Political Reform, and as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the time, Rains also was serving in numerous other legislative positions.

Although Rains was born in a small town in Missouri, he moved to California with his family at a young age. After graduating from Bakersfield High School in 1959, he entered the University of California, Berkeley. Rains received a B.A. in political science, and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Upon graduation he moved to Ventura, California, where he began his professional life as a prosecutor in the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Omer Leonard Rains (born September 25, 1941) is an American politician, lawyer, author, ecologist, and humanitarian.