Meet Maria – A Reclining Wheelchair
Filling In The Gaps
The ROC Wheels Youth distribution team of high school students had been poring over Maria’s measurement worksheet for about a month, hoping to find an additional detail that would help them feel more prepared to meet her needs. She is 34 and needed a reclining wheelchair. Her picture tells us she is likely in a fixed, horizontal position. We want to come prepared with the right wheelchair for each person, but it sometimes doesn’t work this way. There are gaps. Gaps in information, gaps in equipment, gaps in skills. We know God is in those gaps and so we pray. We want things perfect for when we meet Maria.
Angostura, Mexico
We arrived in Angostura, Mexico and I was looking for Maria but didn’t see her. I was told she wasn’t coming. Her local physical therapist didn’t believe we could help her, and there was no point in trying. Why subject her to the arduous journey to the distribution site only to leave disappointed?
As a mom of two kids with chronic medical conditions, my heart understood that disappointment, that hopelessness. I was afraid to ask them to let us try. Afraid that we might fail and Maria and her family would bear the hopelessness of our failure. I found my teammates; I shared the news. This courageous and faithful team took a leap into uncertainty, into the gap, and we asked them to bring Maria the next day.
Our equipment inventory comprised a refurbished assistive device that, for all intents and purposes, was likely a walker. We were all skeptical that it was going to have a useful purpose. Earlier in the day, several of our team members had tried to change it for a boy named Oscar who was more than ready to get out of the wheelchair he had received from us in 2019. With support, he could ambulate, but this old walker just didn’t work for him. The team felt disappointed that we hadn’t been able to provide what he needed and the old walker was in several pieces by the tool table.
We Needed A Reclining Wheelchair
We had several transport chairs. Transport chairs are minimally useful to a very select few people. Great for folks that need help to get from their bed to a bathroom or to the kitchen when the ground is level, and that’s about all. We had fabric, plywood, harnesses, saws, foam, and a skilled team. What we didn’t have was a reclining wheelchair that would accommodate Maria’s fixed position.
Maria Arrived
When she arrived, the team’s physical therapist climbed into the van that had transported Maria to the site and began her assessment. Not long after, the fitting team was brainstorming options. By the end of the day, Maria was being wheeled around in a custom wheelchair made from that seemingly useless walker, some plywood, and a transport chair. As her mother wheeled around her, Maria wanted to shake everyone’s hands and had an enormous smile on her face.
Feeling prepared feels great. Yet, it’s the free fall into the gaps, trusting God to show up, and working as a team that humbles and exhilarates the soul as we are privileged to witness God using our scraps to create beauty beyond comprehension.
Blessings,
Kimberly Hartman
