Monday, January 6, 2014

For Jonathan Sake Outreach Day 6- Anel




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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