“Can a person without feet walk?” asked Noah, while we were riding in the car. “I am trying to tell Riley a person without feet can walk, but she does not believe me.”
Where did this question come from? What prompted Noah to ask this question? Why is he asking me such a serious question right now? We are driving to the pool. Why not ask about the pool, since we have never been to this particular pool.
Here goes…my attempt at answering Noah’s question went a little bit like this.
“Absolutely! If the person has prosthetic feet, they can walk. However, if the individual does not have prosthetic feet, they cannot walk.” I answered, hoping I told him correct information. “Noah, if the person does not have prosthetic feet, they probably use a wheel chair to get from place to place.”
All day I have been baffled by Noah’s question. Even as I write this, I am pondering what sparked Noah’s interest in this topic. Immediately my mind went to a friend and co-worker whose husband lost his legs in an accident, but we haven’t talked about their family recently. Noah is incredibly observant and inquisitive. Plus, he tends to peek over my shoulder when I am browsing Facebook. So maybe we don’t have to talk to spark questions because he is observing so much in his daily life. Simple observations in his daily life prompt numerous questions.
Then it dawned on me, Dean and I recently watched an ESPN documentary about a University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) athlete who lost his feet due to frostbite. Noah was in and out of the room the entire time the documentary was on television. The documentary told the story of a young college student, from overseas, who was a talented long-distance runner. His family poured their entire life savings into their son’s opportunity to attend college in the United States. Due to circumstances out of the young man’s control, he went into a severe depression and wandered deep into the wilderness during the month of November. The athlete was reported missing and many people were searching to find him. When the young man did resurface from the depths of the Alaskan wilderness, he was severely frostbitten and suffering from hypothermia. Medical teams worked feverishly to help the athlete recover from the effects of frostbite and hypothermia; resulting in the amputation of the athlete’s feet. Today, the young man has prosthetic feet and is dedicated to earning his college degree. More importantly, he is passionate about overcoming or controlling his depression and helping others who suffer from depression do the same. Maybe Noah has been thinking about and questioning what happened to the UAA athlete and all his questions are surfacing today while we drive to the pool.
Finally, to end the day, our family happened to watched a quick news clip about the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team. The soldiers participating in the game lost limbs while serving our country. Noah was mesmerized while watching the soldiers play baseball. He did not even notice the players’ prosthetic limbs. What he did notice was the players’ motivation to excel while playing the game of softball.
“The soldiers playing baseball are not any different than you and me.” Dean stated in a very matter of fact manner.
Regardless of why Noah is asking me inquisitive and thought provoking questions, it is more important he understands all human beings have feelings, dreams, goals, families and so much more. It doesn’t matter the shape, size, color, faith, ability or disability of individuals in our society. What matters is we treat people with respect and kindness on a daily basis, regardless of our differences. Our differences make us unique.
