The Day Faith Told Me About; Part
2 Levi
The
two most important days in a person’s life are the day you’re
born and the day you find out why. (Mark Twain)
October 2014, we overhear Bob taking
a call in his shop. “What?!? How long ago did they cast him? He’s
how old? Three and a half? And they cast him six months ago!?!? Well
you gotta know that casting is Worthless today! You know how much a
3-1/2 year old boy grows in six months? There’s NO Way that casting
is gonna be any good to him now. WHAT?? They Never even Gave him a
Leg??? In Six Months??? How the …….. do they expect that kid to
learn to walk?? Him walking on nothing but a stump will cause his
spine to grow crooked, his remaining leg to grow wrong, pelvis growth
alignment problems, etc., etc. We can’t afford to Wait!!! Listen!!,
I don’t care what they’re telling you!!!, Just have him here in
my shop Wednesday for a casting. Then come back on Friday for
fitting. You and he aren’t leaving here Friday until he Walks out
of here on his new leg!!! I don’t care what they told you!!! Be
here with him on Wednesday, Ok, Ok, Ok, I know, I know, just be here
Wednesday, your kid will Walk on Friday. By the way, what’s his
name? Levi? Ok, Ok, see you and Levi then. Bye.”
“Bob, what was that all about?”
I asked. “I just go nuts when I get these calls, this so-called
local big box medical supplier, (whose name you would know) has been
screwing around with this woman’s little boy for over 2 years. He
was born with one normal leg, and the other leg ends just above the
ankle, he has no foot. Not as uncommon as you would think. You’ve
met at least one other in my shop, you just never noticed. All he
needs is a simple BKA leg prosthetic for a kid, no reason for this!!”
Back sometime around 1980 or so
there was another 15 year old hell-on-wheels boy who loved living
life for the moment and dove into all of its adventures, and he lived
in the farm countryside of Michigan’s thumb area. The freight train
ran several times a day right through the farm fields and towns of
the thumb. One day the games got too close, that day the train won.
The lower leg was lost, but the boy and the knee were saved. All the
expected reactions, fear, anger, regret, and pain, a lot of pain, the
never-ending wish to go back one minute and change direction. As with
all things in this life, the past is cast in stone, it’s only the
future that can be molded. The prosthetics back then were much the
same as they were in the civil war, better for joking around with
than walking on.
This boy was smart though, and by
luck, hard work, and circumstance, he grew and was accepted to the
prestigious prosthetics program at University of Michigan. At first
he just wanted to make a better leg for himself so he could still do
the things he did before the limb
loss. In the 30 or so years since, he became the prosthetist of
choice when the U of M team can’t get a leg of their own to work
for someone. He’s built a business like no other in his industry.
When we needed a prosthetist, we interviewed several and we were
confused. Our head Orthopedic Surgeon recommended we try this shop in
Mt. Clemens. We went for a short interview, and left an hour later
with a preliminary casting and a promise to have a leg in 2 days.
Everyone else wanted 4-6 weeks after the insurance money came in,
which could take months. Bob was good to his word, he not only gave
us a “starter” leg for Jeri to practice wearing, he also gave us
a “waterproof leg” so I could teach her to walk in the therapy
pool I built for her in our barn. She learned to walk again in our
barn walking in chest deep water at 92DegF, so there was little
weight on her legs and she was comfortable.
Most recently November 2015, Bob
made for Jeri, the world’s first flexible prosthetic socket with a
vacuum pump built into the prosthetic foot to help hold the leg on
her. Until now, all prosthetic sockets are rigid, and they only fit
perfectly when the leg is just slightly bent. During walking, it’s
loose, then tight during each step. The flexible socket actually
changes shape to follow the shape changes in her knee as it bends.
The automatic vacuum pump helps with a common problem for amputees;
it increases blood flow in her residual limb. The U.S. Army put out
$50M to fund the research. When it became available, the Army didn’t
have anyone who was badly damaged enough and survived. Bob suggested
Jeri as a candidate. They looked at her history and said, “Go For
It." It worked so well, her leg is the case study for dozens of
others in and out of the Army with very complicated amputations to
benefit from the same technology.
That Friday back in October 2014, we
were asked to be there with a half dozen other leg amputees so Levi
would see that it’s not that big of a deal. When a recent amputee
gets a new leg for the first time, it can take weeks or months of
training to actually stand, and walk on it, let alone run on one. If
however, you’re a 3 ½ year old boy who knows nothing else, it can
be one of life’s Never Forget moments.
As promised that Friday, Bob put the
leg on Levi to test the fit, then asked the boy to try to stand up on
it while his mother and Bob held him for support. Before anyone could
blink an eye, the boy squirmed out of the assembled arms and took off
running across the gym. Up the stair set, down the ramp, through the
parallel bars, down the straight away, and around and around again.
Everyone in the place was laughing, crying, and chasing Levi, who
wasn’t about to be caught, it was quite a sight, a half dozen
amputees running around after a boy with a new leg, and no-one could
stop laughing!! Yes you could say God Showed Up.
Prayer: God, when the trains of life
seem to cut us apart, when the unexpected turns us away from our
dreams, when we can see no reason or hope, please help us to
remember, You didn’t just show up, help us to remember You’ve
always been there; it’s up to us to find our own Why.
Ron Draper; Dec. 1, 2015
