Dr. Wayne Wright continues his story. This time, he writes about other people's feelings towards him.
As always, this series is dedicated to Sarah Tagert, who insisted on my doing a story about this man. Enjoy this, Sarah! :)
A lot of people wonder why I have decided to become a doctor, or why I couldn't be doing something that doesn't make me so "visible" to the community. Well, the feeling is this: I feel that doctors made such an impression on me, I figured I would try to "give something back" to those doctors who saved my life. If it were not for doctors or their excellent care that they gave to me all during my childhood, I wouldn't be here today, and I wouldn't be here, sharing my gifts and the knowledge that God gave to me.
I may be disabled to a lot of people, but there is nothing "disabled" at all about my brain. I happen to be quite intelligent, and I love learning new things. Even now, as a grown man who has since graduated from college and medical school and now makes a living as a doctor, I still learn new things, each and every day, and I have seen a lot of this world in my experiences as a doctor. I also have saved countless lives, and nothing gives me so much joy or satisfaction in knowing that I made a profound difference in a deserving person's life.
I really don't let my disability bother me. So I use forearm crutches or a wheelchair to get around. So what. At least I can still get by, and I still can do the things I enjoy doing, and I still can have a successful and rewarding career. I really don't think of it much, but I do have to take precautions, and I do have to go to a hospital if I get the telltale symptoms of a kidney or bladder infection or else it can be curtains for me. If I don't get my problem taken care of as soon as possible, I could very well get extremely sick or worse, die, and that would not be good. I have too much to live for with my family and my career, and I happen to enjoy life, such as it is. I have seen and done so much in my 40+ years on this planet, and I really have no intentions of leaving sooner than planned (of course, God may have other plans about this, but I intend on staying around as long as I possibly can!).
If people can't accept me because I am on crutches or use a wheelchair, then they are the ones with the problem, NOT me, and I am sorry, but this is something that is beyond my control, and I have had to live with this thing, this thing called spina bifida, my entire life, and I have gotten used to my lot in life. If people can't see past my crutches, my wheelchair, or the fact that I am a paraplegic, then they need to do a lot of self-actualization and see why they feel so uncomfortable around me. If I am happy with myself and what I have to go through, then why can't other people?? I am not to be feared, and besides, what I have is NOT "catching". They aren't going to "catch" my disability or end up on crutches or in a wheelchair if they stand by me...why, then, must they be so fearful? I am a person too, just like they are, and they need to learn that even though I may be "disabled", I still can do a lot of things for myself, and I still can have a happy, rewarding life! I just do things a bit differently is all, and it shouldn't be such of a big deal to others!
There is nothing that makes me madder than when people say I can't do things because I am on crutches or use a wheelchair...if anything, that will make me all the more "determined" to show them and prove them that I CAN do anything I set my stubborn mind to! I am not a quitter, and if there are people who think that I am going to give up all that easily, well, then, they have another thing coming to them! I will show them otherwise, and they will learn that I am a lot more "capable" than they realize, and they will learn that even though I AM disabled, I AM able, and I can do anything I want! Nothing is going to stop me, not even a little thing like spina bifida! I have made it this far, and I will continue to function in society to the very best of my ability!
These timeless quotations culled from the celebrated corpus of writings by W.E.B. Du Bois are presented with illuminating introductory essays by Aberjhani. Narration of the Audible book performed by Catherine Byers.
A lot of people wonder why I have decided to become a doctor, or why I couldn't be doing something that doesn't make me so "visible" to the community. Well, the feeling is this: I feel that doctors made such an impression on me, I figured I would try to "give something back" to those doctors who saved my life. If it were not for doctors or their excellent care that they gave to me all during my childhood, I wouldn't be here today, and I wouldn't be here, sharing my gifts and the knowledge that God gave to me.
