This note came to life as a result of a meeting with a wonderful person, this meeting brought back a time in my life about 2 decades ago. Therefore today I remember how wonderful ability is and how great God’s mercies are in our lives. Today I celebrate life; I celebrate ability (physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial) ability in all areas of life.
At the start of the 1990s I was still in secondary school and I had to repeat a year all over again, my parents could not understand why but they held on. Things began to unravel when I did not pick up academically, in fact they thought I was pregnant since I began to sleep a lot and always got tired. This was because I had never been seriously sick so the idea that I was sick did not even come to mind. Then I could not even go to school, medical test showed I had typhoid fever a serious level of it and the illness took up almost half of a year. I and my 3 younger sisters all got infected but mine was the worst, why? We would never know.
Weeks into the illness I became temporarily paralyzed and retarded (or was it autistic?). My mother had to back me, imagine backing a teenager?! She would clean up after me and sponge bath me. It was so terrible (as I was told) I began to say things that were not reality and I lost complete touch of what was real. I could not even feed myself and this went on for months.
I WAS COMPLETELY DISABLED IN ALL WAYS IMAGINABLE TO MAN!!
Why this note? Today as I remember the pain that my family went through praying that I get better and believing that God in heaven will make this happen, I relate with every parent, child, sibling and spouse who is going through what my parents went through for 6 months. A lot of them have dealt with and continue to deal with pain for years without any light at the end of the tunnel and for some there is no way out.
I was not there, so I can’t completely tell the story neither can I share the pain that my family went through because at the time I could not really understand. When I got out of the disability my family was overjoyed and that joy could not enable them share the real pain and agony that they went through so I can’t give you a complete picture.
But this is what I want you to take out of this, it could have been anyone (don’t say God forbid please) because it really could have been anyone. What happened had happened to some (even people I used to know) who never survived and some others are yet to recover from the effect of such sickness. What is it that you are doing to help the person with disability around you? This people I speak of are not the beggars on the street but persons who out of no wish of their own find themselves in this situation and can’t seem to get out of it. Share their pain and help make their lives better. Help create an environment where the persons with disability around you feels like a part of the world you live in, help ensure that they are not second class citizens.
No one knows tomorrow, my parents did not and they had a taste (for 6 months) of how life would be living with a child as who was almost a vegetable. Life is meant for us all, give a helping hand.
This year would mark 19 years that I got over my temporary disability and today God sent someone to remind me of his grace and goodness. Today I am reminded that I am not better than the man without sight or hearing. I am not better that the autistic or the bed ridden, I am not special BUT I have just been given the grace.
I recount my encounter with disability and I celebrate life this day, may God help us all!!
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