Joseas

As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs, I´ve been doing physical therapy with a young man named Joseas. Dawn told me about him when I first got here - how he had gone to the States for open heart surgery and hadn´t had proper care while he was recovering here, resulting in him not being able to walk. Becky and Kathilee did some exercises with him while they were here, and Dawn was hoping I would continue.

One day I went to visit Joseas with Christina. While we read and colored with him, I observed his legs. For some reason I had been thinking that he was nearly paralyzed, but I saw that I was wrong - he moved his legs easily. Jeremy helped him get to church for an afternoon presentation and reported that he could stand up if he also supported himself with his arms. I began to believe that he could walk if we just made his legs a little stronger.

I talked to Ruth and asked her to help. She had a physical therapy internship recently and will be attending Loma Linda next year for PT. We asked Becky what they had been doing for him and tried to get in contact with a physical therapist in the States. In the meantime, Ruth and I started exercises based on what she knew.

We discovered that his legs were weak from not being used in so long, and his ankles were turned in. They were stiff from disuse and wouldn´t point out like normal ankles should. Their condition was making it hard for him to balance when he stood. The first day we visited him, we asked if he could walk by himself. He stood up to show us, which scared me. I stood next to him to catch him if he started to fall. Sure enough, within three steps he fell forward onto his knees. We got his walker out for him and watched him use it. He leaned on it heavily with his hands and just shuffled his legs to move forward. We knew we were in for a lot of work.

Ruth and I started a routine - three times a week we stretched and working his legs to build muscles, and we pushed and pulled on his ankles to increase their range of motion. We also had him practice walking from time to time - we had him exaggerate bending his knees to correct the shuffling problem.

We´ve kept that routine for over a month now. Last Monday we stretched with him as usual and then brought out the walker. He was leaning heavily on it, hanging on for dear life it seemed, and we wanted him to stop. Ruth told him to let go of the walker and practice standing up straight for a minute. Slowly he let go and straightened. Then we asked him to take a step forward. Tentatively he bent one knee up and moved his foot forward. Then he stepped again. And again. We stayed with him and kept the walker in front of him in case he started falling. But he didn´t fall. He kept walking.

About halfway around the room it hit me - Joseas is walking! By himself! We´re not touching him - he has the strength to stand by himself! He can keep his balance by himself! We reached the point we had started from and suddenly Ruth realized it too. ¨Joseas!¨ she exclaimed, ¨You just walked around the whole room by yourself!¨

Tears filled my eyes and Ruth´s. We could hardly believe what we had just seen. And Joseas? He stood up straight and laughed - just laughed. It was the happiest sound I have ever heard.

Last Friday night Joseas gave his testimony in church. He walked to the front of the church independently, with Ruth and me at his side. He thanked God that he is getting better now and encouraged the church to pray and trust in God. After church, he stood up with Ruth and me to go home, and his father brought his wheelchair over to take him home. But Joseas told his dad, ¨I don´t need that. I´ll walk to the door by myself.¨ And he did.

Joseas still walks slowly. He has to have us with him in case he loses his balance. And he can´t walk far - he gets tired pretty quickly. But he can walk, and he´s going to keep walking and getting better. God has really floored me on this one. He just used two people with a spoonful of training between them to get a man out of a wheelchair and onto his feet. All I can say is, I had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. Hope you did too. :)