Hearing from Parents of ALYN

Each evening, after a long day of hiking, we get to sit around the campfire and hear stories about who we are helping.

This year, we had two ALYN parents on the hike and they shared some of their stories.  One mother told us about her book - about a superhero in a wheelchair - which she wrote to help normalize being in a wheelchair.  After she published it, she distributed copies within the community and her son went from being somewhat outcast into a superstar.  (https://www.wheellustratedtales.com)

Another parent, a father, talked about how nausea quickly brought them to discover their son's brain tumor.  And after the operation he suffered from a complication which makes motor skills start from zero (I don't remember the name) - bringing the parent-sleeping-in-hospital estimate up from an impossible 3 weeks to something like 1.5 years.  But his son speaks again, and they continued with daily hospital outpatient work to help him regain mobility and ability in many many areas.

Then the director, Dr. Maurit Beiri, spoke.  She described a mother, Muslim, who has a one-year-old son who has beaten every statistic for his condition - they simply don't survive with how he was born.  But her love and constant interaction with the staff and working with her son has kept him going and alert and interacting.  She has created a group of other Muslim mothers to encourage each other to advocate for their children within the health system and within their extended families.

A nurse also spoke and talked about how she feels these parents are the real heroes.  This nurse looks at every kid as if they're her own child, checks up on them during her days off - but of course she still goes home at night.  These parents keep working for their children 24/7.

How incredible it is that ALYN is there to give the kids more than a standard rehab - when the doctor says 3 treatments per day but the HMO gives 2 - ALYN gives all 3.  When the regular rehab equipment is for adults and doesn't fit the kids, ALYN turns to its in-house workshop to customize or build something from scratch.

Through many ways, ALYN helps these children live quality lives, and they help them to be both capable and more accepted in their society at large.  Which is the dream of every parent.