Evan's Story, Chapter 26, the Eagle

The Eagle

And the King shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you,
 inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25-40

Evan was an enthusiastic boy scout from the start. The LDS Church encourages the boys to be involved and we sponsor our own Cub Scout dens and Boy Scout troops. The requirements for Eagle Scout are twenty one merit badges and an approved service project. The service project must benefit an organization and require several hours of work.

The seed was planted when Evan saw a video clip of disabled children crawling on the ground in third world countries. He always had a wheelchair. He knew that his wheelchair greatly increased his access to the world. But boys and girls, who were disabled like Evan, were living terrible lives on the ground. Meanwhile, he had an old wheelchair in the garage. Lots of people had used wheelchairs in their garages. His project was to collect used wheelchairs and donate to an organization that would get the wheelchairs to these people. He set a goal of one hundred wheelchairs.

Cindy helped to find the website for Wheels For Humanity. This organization collects and repairs used wheelchairs. They are then donated to disabled people throughout the world. The Boy Scouts of America enthusiastically approved his Eagle Project. The local media was notified.

The response from the community was fantastic. Goodwill Industries agreed to provide storage during this project. The Boy Scout Troop agreed to clean the wheel chairs. Wheels For Humanity was grateful for the donation.

Evan was interviewed by reporters from the local newspapers and television stations. 

Adrienne Moore, KSBY News, and Evan

As I have said before, Evan will do anything to get his name in the paper and be on television. I suspect he likes being interviewed by pretty female reporters. As a result of this media coverage,  Evan was able to collect one hundred and thirty wheelchairs. 

He also met another television star. Wheels For Humanity is based in North Hollywood. We thought it would be interesting to attend an open house at Wheels For Humanity. We toured their facilities and chatted with other folks over refreshments. David Hasselhoff was there. He was the star of the Knight Rider television series in the 1980s. I had seen the opening episode and I enjoyed chatting with him about that. His most recent work was the animated movie, Sponge-Bob Square-pants.  David Hasselhoff tried to tell Evan about the movie.

Evan stated, “I’m not into Sponge Bob Square-pants.”

Evan was not impressed. The poor Hollywood star’s ego was crushed.

When the deadline for obtaining the wheelchairs arrived, Evan had well over one hundred wheelchairs and scooters. His scout troop, Troop 234, helped clean off the dust and grime. A truck from Wheels For Humanity took possession of the wheelchairs. Evan’s project was a rolling success. After a final board of review, Evan was an Eagle Scout.

The next thing on the agenda was Evan’s Eagle Court of Honor. This was a tremendous celebration of Evan’s accomplishment. We invited the entire Boy Scout Troop and their families, and everyone who knew Evan, to join the celebration. My mother and father and all my other children were there.

It was our great pleasure to ask Dr. Bravo to be a speaker. Evan had come a long way since this great doctor first met Evan. Then he was a premature, medically fragile, newborn baby. Today, he was being honored as an Eagle Scout. 

Back row: Grandpa Gayle, cousin Sean, Uncle Steve, Grandma Viola, Mike, Rachel, John, Katie, cousin Tiffany, Sariah, David and Cindy.  Front row: April, Mateo, Evan, Andrew, and Spencer

Evan's Story, Chapter 25, Jay Leno

Jay Leno

…Retire to thy bed early, that you may not be weary…

Doctrine and Covenants 88-124

   The Easter Seals of San Luis Obispo hired Jay Leno for a fundraising event. The event was a comedy concert at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo. As part of the promotion, Easter Seals needed a client or two to publicly meet with the famous comedian. The head of the local Easter Seals chapter knew of a family that had two generations of clients, a young man with spina bifida and his nephew, who had a moderate hearing loss. Yes, our very own Evan and Spencer.

   David, Sariah, Spencer, Cindy, Evan, and I were invited to meet Jay Leno before his routine. The idea was to produce publicity photos for Easter Seals. When we were introduced to Jay Leno, Evan didn’t seem overly impressed, so someone asked him if he knew who Jay Leno was. Evan is an “early to bed person”. Very rarely does he ever stay up past eleven, and only then for a social activity. Evan has never watched the Tonight Show, and even if he did, he wouldn’t think a monologue was funny.

   “No,” Evan honestly and bluntly replied. The entourage surrounding Jay Leno reacted with either shocked disbelief or with laughter. How could he not know of the famous Jay Leno?  Jay seemed amused by their reaction. He wasn’t the least bit bothered by Evan’s answer. He did enjoy chatting with us.

   Meanwhile, Spencer was acting very much like a three year old who was up way past his bedtime. Whining kid? Not a problem. He sat Spencer on his knee and bounced him up and down. Spencer laughed out loud, the cameras flashed and the television cameras rolled. On the 11 o’clock KSBY news, for November 5, 2003, Spencer was shown on television with a famous celebrity. Like uncle, like nephew. 

Back row: Mike, Cindy, David,  Tim Smithson, Terry Smithson (Sariah's parents)
Front row: Evan, Spencer, Jay Leno, Sariah

Evan's Story, Chapter 24, Snap

Snap

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

Isaiah 55-8

  We were warned. A year after the rod surgery, Evan was back in Dr. Rinsky’s care for a minor surgery. The lower part of one of the stainless steel rods was poking at Evan’s skin.

   I asked, “So, you’re going to go in there with a hacksaw and trim the rod?”

   “Oh no, we’re much more high tech than that.” He sounded insulted.

   That we could joke about it shows how minor a surgery it was. And in fact, it was. Evan’s recovery was very fast. As Evan was being discharged, Dr. Rinsky had some final words.

“He’s healing very well. After the spinal fusion, there’s really nothing more I can do for him. But I must warn you, he’s getting to the age when kids like him start to break bones.”

   Evan was sixteen when it happened. While he was putting on his shoes, he heard a snap.

   Evan said, “Mom, I heard a snap.”

   Cindy examined the leg. A snap could mean a broken bone. We had false alarms before, but you could never be too sure. There was no redness or swelling that would be expected with a broken bone. But Evan said he heard something, so she called Dr. Bravo. Since there were no symptoms for a break, Dr. Bravo concluded that Evan was good to go.

    That was great news for Evan. He had big plans that day. This was “Super Saturday” for the Santa Maria Stake. The LDS young men and young women from the Santa Maria area performed a service activity at the YMCA in Santa Maria.  The service activity was followed by swimming in the YMCA pool. I helped him in and out of the pool without noticing anything wrong with his legs. Afterwards, there was a dinner and a dance.

   Around midnight, as Cindy was helping get Evan settled into bed, she felt the upper leg bone moving. We wanted to be wrong, but it looked like Evan had been wheeling around all day with a broken femur. Two hours later, an Emergency Room doctor and we were looking at an x-ray of Evan’s right femur. Or, I should say, we were looking at two parts of his femur, the upper part and the lower part. It was a clean break. Why there never was any swelling or redness remains a mystery.

   We were told that Sierra Vista Hospital didn’t have the capability of dealing with a break like this with a child like Evan. We were advised to go home, get some sleep, and drive north for four hours to Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital.

   Several hours later, we were trying to explain to the Emergency Room personnel at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital why we were there. This seemed like a no brainer. He had a broken femur. Sierra Vista wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole and they didn’t have any eleven foot poles. Surely, Lucille Packard would admit him, pin his femur back together and help him get well. After what seemed a long time, Evan was admitted. We signed our permission for a leg operation and then waited for the next day.

   Dr. Rinsky was called in to take a look at Evan and the x-ray. He shook his head and said, “You’re not going to like what I’m about to say, but were not going to do anything with this.”

   “What?” we exclaimed.

   Assured of our full attention, Dr. Rinsky explained, “Yes, we could go in and pin it, and put his leg in a cast, but the bone will only break again. We will keep his leg immobilized by a pillow splint. If the leg is properly immobilized with the two parts together, the bone will eventually grow back together. It will not grow back straight, but that doesn’t matter. Evan is not ambulatory, so no weight is ever put on the leg.”

   They used ordinary pillows in the pillow splint. While keeping him for another day, we were trained on transferring Evan and changing the pillow splint.

   Then we were sent home. While I was at work, Cindy was the one to change the pillows and do most of the moving. She could still feel the bones moving.

  She called Dr. Rinsky and asked, “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

  “Yes,” was the reply, “His leg will heal. Trust me.”

   After a few weeks in this pillow splint, Evan’s right femur did indeed mend. Evan still dresses himself, but we put his shoes on.

Evan's Story, chapter 23, The Burn

The Burn

For if you forgive men their trespasses, you heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Matthew 6-14

   Evan’s bath routine was routine for a paraplegic. He transferred himself from his wheelchair to his electric bath lift. A parent would start the bath water and ensure that the temperature was just right. Evan would push the LOWER button to lower himself into the bath water. After bathing, he would press the RAISE button to lift himself out. All either parent would have to do was provide the dry towels. But this night was not to be routine.

   Cindy started the bath water and was then distracted. She returned to check on Evan just as his lower legs entered the water. Cindy discovered the water was too hot, and skin was coming off his legs. We got him out as quickly as possible and flushed his lower legs with cool water. As we desperately tried to cool his legs, his skin started to blister. In spite of our efforts at first aid, the damage had been done. 

   While this was happening, Evan did not feel a thing. If he could have felt it, he would have screamed immediately and we would have prevented a serious injury. Maybe the bottom of his feet would have a first degree burn. Our hearts sank as the extent of the burn became obvious.  From just below the knees down to his toes, Evans legs were two big blisters.

   The Emergency Room doctor was not very happy with us. Child abusers have been known to place little children in scalding water. But this was an obvious accident. One, it was clear that Evan did not feel any pain in his legs. Two, Evan remained calm, cool, and collected. It was the parents who were distraught.

   After a quick lecture about our hot water heater being too hot, Evan’s legs were treated for second degree burns.

   When the initial treatment was complete, he said, “Mr. and Mrs. Price, I know this looks really bad, but I assure you, this will completely heal.” He didn’t tell us how long it should take.

   Cindy, of course, felt horrible. How could she let the water get so hot? I didn’t feel too much better. Why did I have the hot water heater set at 130 degrees? 

   Evan, on the other hand, had something else to say. “I forgive you, Mom.”

   Afterwards, Evan received a Priesthood blessing and many prayers were offered to Heavenly Father. We were praying for a quick recovery.  This time, our prayer was going to be answered.

   For follow-up treatment, Cindy took Evan to Dr. Bravo. He assured her that it wasn’t her fault. Due to the extent of the burns, he sent Evan to a plastic surgeon for treatment. Dr. Bravo continued to provide follow-up examinations and treatment. Within two weeks, the burns were completely healed.

   “Mrs. Price,” he exclaimed, “This isn’t supposed to happen so fast. This truly is a miracle.”