Anel has been coming to the
outreach program for the past few years now. He was born with a severe club foot
that he had surgery on. The surgery resulted in him having an amputation of his foot above the ankle.
When he started coming to outreach he was able to stand on his good foot and
bear weight on his “stump.” but had a hard time walking.
We have been blessed to have a partnership with Phoenix
Rising who specialize in making prosthetics and customizing orthosis. They were
able to make him a leg a few years ago that worked wonderfully for him. He came
to outreach to work on balance and overall strengthening.
Last year he began to grow out of
his prosthetic. His mother was worried as Anel had gotten so used to his new
found freedom & being able to “fit in” and do what all other kids were
doing running, playing, walking, etc. Again we were blessed that Phoenix Rising
came in & made a casting mold during the summer and returned in the fall
with a custom made prosthetic for him.
During outreach he loved playing
with toy cars but even more so driving the foot propelled and hand propelled
cars we have for the kids. He also enjoyed playing ball and building with
blocks. He has since has graduated from the therapy aspect of the program except
for maintenance of his prosthetic leg. He is now in educational portion of
outreach.
This past year has been a BIG year
for him. He got a new leg and a chance to go to school for the first time at a
regular school. He loves school and says that he is learning a lot. He gets to
go to school with his BEST friend Sydney (who was also in the outreach program
with him). We all joke that they are girlfriend and boyfriend.
I had the opportunity to visit his
home a few months back. I did not have a translator at the time so do not know completely
what Presidue & them talked about. Nevertheless, It was a joy to meet his
little brother, father, cousins, & grandmother who all live at their home
as well. I had a wonderful time watching “cars” videos on my phone from
youtube. You could tell some of the cousins had never seen a movie before. I later learned from Presidue that the family
lives in a small house that has a leaky roof, dirt floors, and is falling
apart.
What a JOY it is to work with this
family. Anel’s mother always has a BIG smile on (until you go to take a picture…Haitian
thing) and her smile lights up a room. I love going downstairs in the morning
before the kids go to school and getting a hug from Anel :-).
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