I have been an EMT for the Nashville Medical Services for several years now, and I enjoy my job very much; but more often than not, the bad often outweighs the good. However, in THIS case, this story has often had a very happy ending, and I am here to share it with you now.

I have had to deal with people from all walks of life in all kinds of situations. Some of the calls have been downright tragic, but some have also been heartwarming and inspiring, even funny at times (such as the time we had to rescue a "cat" from a tree--only it turned out to be a baby LION!). One of the more memorable patients we have had the pleasure of knowing is a little girl whom we have come to love with all our hearts and souls because she has made quite an impact on us in more ways than one.

Young Jodie Sandusky is now fourteen years of age, but from looking at her, you would think that she is much, much younger. She is very tiny for a fourteen-year-old teenager, and she does not look more than six or seven at the most in age. She has a small, thin face, almond-shaped eyes that crinkle when she laughs or cries, long, luxurious jet-black hair that falls down her back and frames her face in bangs, and a thin little body that is often held in place by straps as she sits in her small, custom-made wheelchair.

You see, Jodie is a child who happens to be special. She was born severely handicapped, and she is unable to walk, feed herself (she is tube fed, and she can't chew or swallow), or do most things kids her age are able to do. She is severely mentally retarded besides being physically disabled, and she has severe brain damage due to a lack of oxygen that occured sometime during her birth.

Jodie sometimes suffers seizures, and at times she has stopped breathing. There have been times where we have come to her house, and we have found her, slumped in her wheelchair or lying in her bed, blue, limp, and totally lifeless. She has also had bouts of pneumonia, and we have found her suffering from great distress as she struggled to breathe, and we have also had to try to dislodge food or liquid from her throat as she choked. We have also seen her thin body contorted in agony as she writhed from a seizure that gripped her body, and we have had to suction copious amounts of saliva, vomit, and whatnot from her constricted throat. We have had to go through HELL on account of this very special little girl, and it is a Miracle that she is even still HERE after witnessing some of the emergencies that she has suffered.

Jodie's parents adopted her from Korea when she was only three years old, and even from the start, it was apparent that Jodie was a child who had serious medical problems; yet her parents weren't afraid to love her and raise her as their own. Jodie wasn't expected to accomplish much in life because of her serious disabilities, but she has surprised many with her insatiable will to learn, and also her very happy and outgoing personality. Jodie will probably never walk independently (or at ALL), but she IS starting to talk and express herself better. She is learning to let her wants and needs known in several different ways, and she is learning of the world about her and about other people. She is in a special needs program at a school for handicapped youth, and she is very well loved by all the other children and also the teachers there.

Jodie really doesn't have the mental capacity to understand the seriousness of her condition or the implications it has on others; she is more interested in loving people and just being AROUND them. She is a people person, according to her family, and she is happiest whenever people are surrounding her (particularly people she knows or people she feels comfortable with). She does know how to love and give it to others freely, and she also can let people know in no uncertain terms just how she is feeling inside. She can let them know if she is hungry, needs a change of diapers, cold, wet, bored, lonely, or even sick, and she can produce simple commands with her word board or with gestures or noises. She can say a few words ("Mama", "Papa", "Wuv You" ["Love You"], "H'lo", "Bah" [could mean either "Ball" or "Bye"], and "S'eepy" ["Sleepy" or "Tired"]), and she can add emphasis to her words with moving her body, making faces, or chattering her teeth. She has become very adept at expressing herself, and it has opened up a whole new world for her. Where there once was darkness and despair, there is now light and hope--LOTS of it.

Now, just the very sight of Jodie's problems or the very sight of her can cause some of my partners to turn green or into jelly because they aren't used to dealing with a child who has serious disabilities; but as for ME, I have no problems with it. Jodie, for all she has had to endure in her young life, and for all her problems, is just a child who happens to be disabled, and there is nothing that we can do about it except try to help her whenever it is needed or try to make her somewhat comfortable. I happen to think that she is a terrific kid, both on the inside AND outside, and if there is ANYTHING I can do to try to make her feel better or comfort her whenever she is scared, by God, I WILL do it, no questions asked! She is a child who deserves as much of a chance as any child who ISN'T handicapped in some way, and she deserves to have a happy, full life!

If you want to look up the TRUE meaning of the word "Miracle", you will see it in a child like Jodie Sandusky. She may not seem to have much going for her, but all you have to do is look UNDERNEATH the wheelchair, the palsied limbs, the feeding tube, and the thin, wasted body strapped into an upright position, and see the happy nature of this beautiful young lady and know that God has made her this way for a Reason. If SHE can be happy with her lot in life, then WHY can't WE??

~Written by Patricia Eileen Moss, EMT, Nashville Emergency Medical Services, Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, March 8, 2006.