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During all those lonely yea rs in a
whee lchair. memories of the short
span of happiness
1
had enjoyed in ·
the world of out-of-doors fortified
me and kept me from falling into a
mood of utter despair. But even tha t
slowly slipped away, and the memo–
ríes faded into oblivion until the
ever-present determination to walk
assailed me so strongly that I could
feel my inn er self struggling for re–
lease. muchas a fly imprisoned on a
sheet of gummed paper s truggles to
free itse
1
f.
It
was 1942 when. with the a id of
my nurses,
1
actually began to take
my first steps. stumbling and reeling
like a toddling baby. Their patience.
their constan! effort s, and their un–
derstanding made my will to walk
stronger tha n ever. The sincere per–
sonal attitude of many nurses and
doctors was beginning to play a vi–
rally importan! part in promoting
my healt h a nd happiness . My
mother d ied that yea r, shocking me
into the realiza tion tha t
I
just had lo
learn to walk agai n and improve my
hands, or die in the at tempt.
My fa ther's health was fai ling,
and the passing of my mother has–
tened his death in 1945. Alone, a
helpless inva lid,
1
stifled my grief
over the loss of my parents and
plunged into my art work and the
almost insurmountable task ofwa lk–
ing. Al f1rst, it was as slow and pain–
ful as teething. As 1 tri ed to stand on
my feet,
1
prayed lo God that he
would give me strength and courage
to fight my handica p. As
1
thi nk
back to those days of my attempts to
walk aga in,
1
cannot write enough in
this short space about the power of
praye r and my faith in God. lt is
absolutely amaz ing and almost un–
believable wha t an individual can
do when he uses his mind in the
right direction.
Learning to wa lk with the a id of
heavy braces and thc support of
" GOD GUIDES MY HAND. "
Bi/1
Boynansky gives God the credit for
his
ability to walk again, and for
his
success as
a cartoonist. Here are
some
examples of his work.
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976
cumbersome crutches was difficult.
The weakness of my hands made
my struggle even grea ter.
lt
took an
hou r"s effort for one moment of suc–
cess.
A year passed before
1
was able to
move around wi th any confidence.
As time went by,
1
tried lo laugh at
my hand icap and found cynica l
amusement in rcmarking, " I'm go–
ing to have a different pa ir of
crutches to harmonize wit h each of
my su its." But artificial supports are
no laughing matter. lt requires real
courage
to
go outside, steel on your
legs a nd lumbcr under your arm–
pits. The discomfort is not only
physical. but mental too, and the
fear of falling is terrifying.
I have always bclieved that if you
put your mind to doing something,
no matter how difficult the obstacle
may be, you can overcome it. Your
courage must never fai l; your mind
and body must work in complete
coordina tion for your self-imposed
goa l. You must keep at it constant ly,
and you will discoverras
1
have, that
the mind is more closely related to
the body than most people fully re–
alize. Wh at the mind wills, the body
can do. a nd th ere a re very few ex–
ceptions.
. The pain. discomfort. and set–
backs
1
suffered we re like a horrible
nightmare. gone but not forgotten.
However,
1
did learn to walk with–
ou t braces or crutches after being in
a wheelchai r for fourteen ycars . lt
was li kc being reincarnated and my
joy was overwhclmin g, but my hap–
piness was dimmed because my
mother was not there to sha re my
victory wit h me. As 1 look back now.
I give fervent thanks to God, th e
kind nurse whosc littlc rubber ba ll
has a special meaning
to
me. and
still remai ns wit h me, and to the
medica! staff who actua lly mad e it
a l! possible.
Tha t's the hea rt of my story. But I
would like to add a mos t important
message to all. There is still a rem–
nant of ignora nce wh ich causes
many parents to feel a sense of
shame or guilt if they have a child
that devia tes from normal in any
marked degree. Actua lly, a handi–
ca pped child is born into every third
family. and most of them can be
brought up to become a sa tisfaction
to their paren ts and to themselves.
The earlier th eir difficulty is' diag–
nosed and correc tive thcrapy begun .
the more nearly normal their lives
wi ll be.
Today. we are learning more and
more of the necessity for after-care
in va rious illnesses. such as scarlet
fever. meas les. and the more serious
diseases. uch as infantile paralysis
and rheumatic fever. The part par–
ents can play in helping a handi–
capped ch ild ove rc omc the
temporary or more permanent dis–
abilities. such as weakened eyesight
or hea rt or paralysis of the arms or
legs, is increasing daily. By their
persistence in followin g up rcgimens
of treatment and by their main–
taini ng a hea lthy atti tud e of mind
toward a handicapped child, they
will be able to help him enormously
in achieving a more normal condi–
tion.
A we ll-known surgeon has said
that. as a result of yea rs of experi–
ence, he is convinced that parents
can have grea t influence on the
progress of hand icapped children.
and that these children can do most
of the things tha t norma l children
ca n.
Parents should a lso help a handi–
capped youngs ter lo live as muchas
possible like a norma l child . and
they should trea t him as such. Many
children with varying degrees of
phys ical handica ps a re able to hold.
their own in sports and games. and
parents should ac ti vc ly encourage
th em to participate a t every oppor–
tunity.
The eas iest way for you to help
handicapped people to forge t any
physica l imperfection is for you to
forget it yoursclf. A matter-of-fact
att itude and an admission ra ther
than an evasion of a disability are
infinitely more hclpful to a handi–
capped person than any pitying in–
du lgence or undue guarding of him
as he a ttempts to achi eve indepen–
dence and normalcy.
o
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