A Life-Changing Delivery
Everyone has their own story. Many of them can teach us lessons, but there are some that can change a person forever. I am a physical therapist in San Jose, Costa Rica. I remember in 2021, I was delivering a Zippie Iris wheelchair in a place quite far from the capital. When we got close to the destination, we realized that the car was not going to get us there because of the complicated terrain at the entrance to the girl's house. We proceeded to carry the chair the rest of the way. After a steep slope of about 150 meters, we managed to get the chair to the front door.
The girl was sitting in an armchair in the house, and the only way she could move was to be picked up by an adult. This situation of hers made it difficult for her family to include her in many activities, but on many occasions, they would transfer her to different areas of the property where they lived. She always had a smile on her face, but it was clear that she wanted to be able to be part of the families’ activities.
We began explaining the care of the chair and how to assemble and disassemble it. Finally, she was able to sit in her new chair and we made the final adjustments. The girl's posture changed completely. She looked more comfortable and confident. She was finally able to be integrated her family, which we know will influence her self-esteem and independence in the future.
The happiness of the girl and her mother was awe-inspiring. She was finally walking with her two sisters around the farm and feeding the animals they raised. The woman told us that it would be a relief for her to have the wheelchair as support, since not only would she be able to spend more time with her daughter. It would also require less physical effort since the transfers would be simpler and she was going to be able to rest assured that the girl was going to be safe and well positioned in the chair.
While the chair was being tested, the woman told us her story. She always wanted to have children, but she never could due to medical problems. The three girls were not her biological daughters. The three girls were abandoned by their biological parents, passed into the hands of a government institution, and she adopted them as a permanent part of the family. My partner and I were speechless. There is no way to describe the happiness of these three girls, despite having very little in terms of material possessions, but having all the love that a child may need from her adoptive mother.
The lady spoke of the girls as if they were her own blood, and the happiness of seeing how they could include the wheelchair-bound girl in their day-to-day activities was indescribable.
Those moments are the ones that really stick with you, and they’re humbling.
We left that house not only with the satisfaction of having helped that family, of having given them one more tool to be happy and carry out their daily activities together; but we left with eggs, fruits, and other gifts for us to take home.
The happiness we experienced that day is what moves us to give our best, to offer solutions that meet the needs of each person. That day was a life lesson.
