His body is paralyzed, but his strong will drives him
My name is Chaim and I live in the United States. I attend a regular yeshivah where I’m very proud to be an honor student. I have a lively sense of humor, lots of friends, and I love to sing, especially zemiros on Shabbos.
My body is paralyzed from my chest down. When I was a baby, the doctors discovered a dangerous neuroblastoma tumor in my spine, and I needed emergency lifesaving surgery to remove it. The surgery was successful, but there was a secondary tumor that caused irreversible damage to my legs, leaving me unable to move them or walk, since I can’t feel them or put weight on them.
You may laugh, but I didn’t realize that I was different from my siblings. I played with my brothers and sisters like every child in a regular family. I got around the house by crawling on my stomach and using my elbows. I even figured out how to get up and down the stairs! When I was five, they strapped me into a wheelchair, and I used my hands to move the wheels. My mother says that people used to jump off the sidewalk when they saw me coming because I cruised so fast!
When I was seven, I learned how to walk up and down steps wearing braces and a walker for support. Once I fell and broke my leg, but after eight weeks in a body cast, I put the braces back on and kept trying until I was able to learn how to walk by myself. And eventually I did! In the beginning, a policeman had to hold up the traffic for me when I wanted to cross the street, because the light would turn green before I could make it across, but after much practice, I was able to cross in time.
Create a free account to keep reading.
