Three-year-old Gerson travelled three hours by bus with his grandmother to make it to the Thompson team’s mobility clinic in El Progreso last week. Gerson was born prematurely along with his twin, who passed away shortly after their birth. Gerson’s mother works in Guatemala City and has to stay there for weeks at a time so she can provide for her family. Gerson has not been able to walk and has relied completely on his grandmother, who is raising him, to get around.
Byron, who used to work for Hope Haven, is one of our wheelchair techs and has been an instrumental part of our mobility clinics this past year. He helps assemble the wheelchairs and provides support in the clinic. He is in a wheelchair himself and is a great example to our patients of how their wheelchairs can transform their lives.
The wheelchairs we distribute in our mobility clinics are from Free Wheelchair Mission. They are mostly used by adults and would not have been a good fit for Gerson. Fortunately, we have been provided with pediatric wheelchairs from Hope Haven and Byron is a pro at assembling these chairs. He was able to make sure this chair was a custom fit just for Gerson. As soon as he got into his new chair, Gerson was smiling and moving around the clinic, spreading his joy. A staff member asked Byron his thoughts about building this wheelchair for Gerson and showing him how to use it. He responded with, “he is going to be better at this than me.”
Karen Preston, the physical therapist on the Thompson team, showed Gerson and his grandmother exercises he can do to keep up his strength and how to best use his wheelchair. We will be able to keep in touch with Gerson through Lesly who is one of our Guatemalan volunteer leaders from El Progreso. Lesly and Gerson are from the same department. She helped him and his family get connected with our organization and invited them to the mobility clinic. Lesly will be able to update us on Gerson’s progress with his physical therapy and new wheelchair, and she will make sure we are able to provide any follow up care that Gerson may need in the future.
It is a privilege for our staff and volunteers to provide this life-changing medical care to our mobility patients. Over the next couple weeks, we will be sharing more about Lesly and other patients whose lives she has helped transform. You can help us provide this continuity of care for Gerson and patients just like him by supporting us this Giving Tuesday.
