Cerebral palsy will not win today

I could not stop tearing up the whole time we were there.

He was going to sit up on his own.

He was going to move the plastic cone from one side of the bed to the other.

He was going to kick the ball no matter how stiff his joints felt.

Cerebral palsy was not going to win that day.

15 year old Daniel struggled to do anything other than lay in his bed his entire life. With a single mom and 6 siblings, physical therapy and proper medical intervention were a pipe dream. Living in a Make a Miracle sponsored home in Jicamarca, Peru, putting food on the table for all those kids was the priority for Daniel’s mother. As much as she wanted to see her son’s situation improve, survival trumps function.

This family’s true miracle walked through their orange door a couple of years ago in the form of Sonia, Norma and Liz. These three Make a Miracle students were studying Physical Therapy and knew that their gifts could be of particular use to this family.

Once a week, one of these three women would voluntarily drive an hour each way to Daniel’s house to message his joints, improve his flexibility, and teach him how to do basic movements.

Years later, I could not believe the improvement in Daniel. From bedridden to sitting at the kitchen table feeding himself, Daniel had experienced a miracle. You can’t help but shed a tear when you see his massive smile after he successfully accomplishes one of his more advanced exercises.

Having been around Make a Miracle for 8+ years and working for this organization for over a year, I can confidently say that though I love seeing great college graduation rates, this is the kind of miracle that warms my heart the most.

Sonia, Norma and Liz all had sponsors bet on them, and now, they put all their chips in on Daniel. Though Daniel still has a long way to go physically, his newfound confidence and demeanor make him almost unrecognizable from the boy he was. This is what Make a Miracle is all about.