It was a spring morning in Grand Junction, Colorado. From my hospital bed I could see the sun and the first signs of Spring. Suddenly my day dreaming was interrupted by the clanging of the metal blinds against the door of my room. In burst Henry Swenson, grinning from ear to ear and the brightest twinkle in his eyes. Above his head he was carrying full leg braces and in his other hand he was carrying two of the smallest crutches I had ever seen. He stopped, looked at me and said: “Are you ready?”
I looked at Henry in stunned disbelief-I had been waiting for months to walk again. Now, the thought petrified me. There was no feeling in my legs, I could not move them-how exactly was I going to walk?
Henry looked at me and smiled and in his calming voice told me not to worry. He first helped me get into my leg braces. They were made of steel and took quite the effort to get in. Next came the crutches-they too were made out of steel. Henry got me out of bed with the help of several nurses. He locked my braces so they were straight on my legs and said let’s walk. The idea was for me to put the weight on my crutches and swing my legs out in front of me. My arms were so weak and they were shaking as my arms tried to lift all this weight.
The crutches and braces actually weighed more than me! I finally managed a “step” or two but the process made me totally exhausted.
I was totally exhausted but it was such a great experience to “walk” again. In my wildest imagination it did not occur to me how darn hard it was to “walk” again. My arms could not yet bear the weight and it was shocking how heavy those crutches and braces were. In spite of all of that I was the happiest six year old on the planet-brighter days were on the way!!
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