Heartwarming Stories

Today was a day full of happiness. I will share two of the many stories from today. 

Enjoying life….

A 13 year old boy who has a diagnosis of CP (cerebral palsy) was carried into therapy by his father. (For this story we will call him John and his father papa.) John always has a smile on his face. Upon first looks, one would think he was probably around the age of 8. John is unable to stand independently or walk independently. John is able to maneuver around by rolling and somewhat crawling; however it takes a lot of energy and muscle strength for him to do so. John is able to talk; however has difficulty with articulation and voice production (so he is hard to understand at times). Johns personality always lights up the room (which is good since we have no light in the clinic right now). He can make any day into a great day. He just warms your heart and puts a smile on your face. Powerful! So as we were starting therapy, John quickly said to stop and wait. He turned to papa and said, “papa, i need to call mom. I need to tell her I am here working”. Papa laughed and politely attempted to redirect him to continue therapy; however John REALLY  wanted to call his mom. So his papa attempted to call her. No answer. His papa convinced him to get back to work. John kindly let us know that we were working on his legs and to continue with that (seriously…his words). Quickly, papa’s phone rang. It was mom. So John said a few things to her and then demanded that the translator talk to his mom. You see, John is demanding in a sweet, caring way, so the translator quickly found herself talking to his mom. John was beyond excited and full of smiles and laughter. Once John got the phone back, he very seriously stated, “ok, I need to work. Bye”. So as the session went on, I decided to assess John’s vision and see how his eyes are working. I also decided to take a couple photos and video (with papa’s permission) to use in a presentation I am currently working on. John demanded…remember in his caring, sweet way….that papa be in a photo with him. So below you can see John and papa….two people who love each other dearly and who both can brighten even the darkest days. Special people have that ability…and these two are two very special people. Nothing else mattered in the world during that hour therapy session….just a teenager enjoying the life he was given!

Hope in a Bucket….
A fews weeks ago, a mother sat on one of our mats with her head buried in her hands crying. She was crying because at that moment, she felt hopeless. She felt hopeless because her precious son is unable to independently sit, crawl, roll, talk, walk, hold his head up, etc. Her beautiful boy who is 2 years old needs a lot of help from her to complete all tasks. She loves her boy, but at that moment she felt hopeless.  She sat there wondering if her child would ever do any of the above. She sat there wondering if her child would always need her help. She sat there wondering what he would do if something were to happen to her. She just sat there wondering and crying. Through the tears she was able to say that she just hoped he would sit up one day. You see, she has no chair at home that he can sit in independently. She has always held him and carried him. She doesn’t have the luxury of a seating system or a wheel chair. What she does have though is love…love for her boy. That is evident in his bright smile every time he hears her voice. That day that she sat there in tears, we told her if she could bring a bucket, we could make him a chair. Even though she left that day still feeling hopeless, the next time she brought her son to therapy, she was very proudly carrying a bucket. She gave a little smile when she handed over the bucket. That little smile was a little sign of hope. 

Silvana and I began working on the chair on a Saturday just two days after she brought the bucket. We just knew we had to get this chair done quickly. However, quickly is used lightly as we still had a full schedule of patients to see, so we did work while we could. A little here and there. As the next couple of weeks went by I watched the mom during therapy. I watched her look at the other children. I watched her look at the little boy giggling as he ran away from the therapist. I watched her witness a 5 month old baby sitting almost independently with perfect posture. I watched her look at a little girl take her first steps unassisted. I watched her as she looked at a child running to his mom telling her he loved her. I just watched her. What was she thinking in those moments? That I do not know and I will never know. What I do know is that after each of those moments, I watched her look at her boy with a huge smile on her face. Pure love. 

So today, she brought him into therapy with no smile, but no frown, just a flat affect. She kindly said, “Bonswa Ashley” (hello) and handed me his appointment paper. I asked her to move a couple mats down and while she was gathering her items to move, I quietly walked to other side of the room and grabbed his FINISHED chair. I sat the chair down next to her and she immediately looked up at me and said “Mesi, mesi, mesi” (thank you, thank you, thank you), but still had no smile. Then we put her boy in the chair and adjusted a few minor things. Then there he was in his chair sitting by himself. In that moment as we watched his mom look at her boy, I saw her face fill with hope and then there was that smile. The beautiful smile that she holds in so quietly sometimes was out to shine at that moment. The look in her eyes was priceless as she looked at her boy. The moment was just between her and him and that moment was priceless. So priceless that even a camera could not have captured the beauty and no words can describe it. But it will forever be embedded in my heart. We were all left a little speechless because we had all witnessed the same moment. The mom was so appreciative and could not stop thanking us  Is the chair perfect? No. But did this chair bring some hope along with some relief? Yes. That I would not trade with perfection any day of the week. After a few pictures (per moms request), off they went on a moto…mom, son, and his chair….

Below is a picture of all of us…. 

(sidenote: his head is better positioned than what the picture indicates….)

***All stories and pictures shared with parent permission