On August 8th, I
was one of the lucky ladies to be put on therapy duty.
There are four of the 10
children that live on the property that receive therapy daily.
I happened to be the last person
to call dibs on a child.
His name is Christopher and he is 15 years old.
He has microcephaly.
He is blind.
He is fed by a feeding tube.
He cannot move his own body.
I’m not even convinced that he has any idea what is going
on around him.
For more on his testimony go here: http://www.losgozosos.org/Children/LosGozososChildren/Christopher.html
My heart was broken.
I was told I had to pick him
up off of his bed and take him into the living area down the hallway.
I started to pick him up,
but I didn’t know where to grab him.
I started crying at the
thought of picking him up.
I was so scared I would hurt him.
I told my teammate Meagan I
was scared and that I didn’t know how to pick him up.
She assured me that I was
fine and she demonstrated how to pick him up.
Tears started flowing down my eyes.
I couldn’t do this.
What if I hurt him?
What if I drop him?
My heart was so torn.
I told Meagan I couldn’t do
it and that I needed her to.
She picked him up and carried
him all the way into the living room for me.
Then, the next hurdle…
I had to sit here with him
for an hour and do therapy.
Therapy for Christopher
ranged from moving his arms, legs, and hips.
I had to read through this
sheet that I did not understand and do Christopher’s physical therapy.
The entire time I was doing his therapy I was crying.
Some of my teammates were laughing at me.
The nannies were laughing at me.
But my heart was so broken.
I was scared I was going to
hurt him.
The nannies told me that
nobody has ever hurt him.
That didn’t stop me from
thinking I would hurt him.
I was scared, I was
frightened, and I was angry that they were laughing at me.
I didn’t understand the
point of doing therapy for him because he can’t do it himself.
What was the reward for him
doing therapy?
Through the tears I was able
to finish his therapy and carry him to his room by myself.
God was with me to be able
to finish the therapy.
It has taken me almost ten days to process this therapy
session.
TEN
WHOLE DAYS.
Daily, I have thought about
that one therapy session.
Daily, I have been trying to process what God wanted me
to learn.
Daily, I have tried being more intentional with
Christopher.
Last night I got it.
I now understand the
importance of therapy.
I understand the reward in
helping the children be able to move.
I understand that they could
be able to do more for themselves one day from doing therapy.
Here’s why I got it.
I visited Gabriel &
Mirna’s home last night.
I went to their home with my
teammate Christina Dombrowsky, my squad mate Lynsey Dawson, and one of the nannies Oty.
Mirna getting
a ride from Gabriel in his electric wheelchair.
My last blog was a video of
Gabriel’s story; it is so inspirational, you should for sure watch it. http://brandiwilcox.theworldrace.org/?filename=i-must-share-his-story-video
I
understand the reward in doing therapy.
I
understand the importance of having those with disabilities move their bodies.
I
understand that it will help them to be more moveable.
I
understand that it helps them to not hurt all day from being in a wheelchair.
Gabriel has not had any sort
of physical therapy for a year and a half.
Yesterday was the first time
he was able to get the attention he needed.
Lynsey is an athletic
trainer and she was able to help Gabriel with his therapy.
Christina was able to
translate everything into Spanish for Gabriel’s father, Saulo.
I was there to entertain
Mirna and be a witness to what God was doing.
Gabriel did really well with
his therapy.
Most things he was able to
do by himself with a little help from Lynsey.
He is a very strong man that
needs some attention to get stronger.
The family was so thankful
and grateful for our ability to come and do therapy for Gabriel for just one
hour.
The family plans to continue
doing therapy with him two times a day.
Although I didn’t know the
reward in doing therapy with Christopher ten days ago, I see it now in that it
helps to build his strength.
God is at work & I’m
thankful to see His children with His eyes.
