Ruth is a mother from Kenya who was born with a disability that affects her hands and legs. At the age of 13, she had both legs amputated. Years later, her youngest son, Melvin, was also born with congenital deformities in his hands and legs and underwent an amputation at just seven months old.
VIDEO SCRIPT
My name is Ruth Wairimu Karanja. I am from Kenya. I am a mother and was born with a disability that was affecting the legs and the hands. And I was amputated when I was at the age of 13 years. And then my last born child is Melvin. And that boy was also born with congenital deformities of both legs and hands.
He was then later amputated at the age of seven months. Being disabled with my kids, it has been the toughest moment in my life. I sacrificed myself to walk on a worn out wheelchair, a broken one, just to see my son happy and being in school.
Joe – Seating Therapist
So Ruth has been getting around on a three wheeled wheelchair, so the chair that she was given provided really, really good support for her seating system.
That’s going to give her the opportunity to be the mom that she wants to be.
Ruth
I’m so grateful that I got a new wheelchair. I feel proud I can freely go to church happy. When people see me around, they see a proud mom. They see a well-kept woman because the other one was even a shame.
Joe
Melvin. I asked him, hey, what do you like to do?
And he said, play. And I said, okay, well, what does play mean? He said, volleyball and handball. That automatically made me think, okay, we have got to look for this kid, a chair, that he can be active. And he talked about volleyball. I said, have you ever seen sitting volleyball that they play in the Olympics? And he said, no.
So we pulled out our phones and showed him what sitting volleyball looked like, and he just lit up. Sports chairs are built different. They’re lighter. They’re able to maneouver. An individual shows up where we think, all right, this is what they really need. Let’s try to find something as close to it as possible. But then God provides the actual thing that we were hoping for.
We sat him in it to test it out. Well, that opened our eyes. He was incredible. Up to this point, any chair that he had had the opportunity to use was not optimal for him to be able to utilize that potential. We had him rolling back and forth, catching the ball and then throwing it and then continuing to roll, all while moving.
And this is the first time he’s ever done that in a chair.
Ruth
I see a bright future for Melvin. He now has a good wheelchair that he can do sports with. He’ll be going to school with it.
Joe
God provided that chair. We were able to fit it to him and his life can be changed completely.
Ruth
I know God is above. God is able. He will always be there for us. So to my kids, I teach them the ways of God. I teach them to appreciate life and to accept the way things are. Because God owns our future.
Everything has changed. God came through and we got religious. Life will not remain the same. People are wondering, how could this woman be this clean and well-kept? And the wheelchair is like these. But even if the one the why and how they didn’t come through for me, they didn’t help me. But thanks for Joni and Friends for coming through for this family.
Our happiness is your blessing.
People Interviewed and their Titles
Ruth Wairimu Karanja
Joe – Seating Therapist
Recording Location
Kenya
Organization featured in this Story
Joni and Friends – www.joniandfriends.org
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