My cousin Nicky, and her son, Brady, have been a great source of Awe, Appreciation, and Inspiration for me. I wanted to share her story.
Nicky grew up with a lot of responsibility in helping to raise her brother. Her parents had divorced, dad moved to another province, and mom needed to work full time to provide, so she was left with her brother a good part of the time. My cousin Joey, is borderline down syndrome, he is currently 43, but has the mentality of about a 16 year old. He is a sweet person, and will do anything for anyone, but he will never be a fully capable adult to support himself. She is still a second mother to him.
This is not why she is my hero.
Nicky planned early on to not have children of her own, due to she would always have a child in her life to help raise. Then at 38 years of age, she found out she was pregnant. She did have mixed feelings at first, but welcomed this wonderful surprise.
About 4 months into her pregnancy she found out her baby had down syndrome. Of course it was upsetting news, but she never had a doubt that this baby was a gift.
This is where Nicky becomes my hero.
For the next several months, she fought hard to keep her baby. Not because she was at risk of losing the baby, but because the healthcare system still views down syndrome as a strain on the system. They are in Manitoba, and I am not sure if this holds true in Alberta as well. She would have phone calls day and night, day in and day out, to try to persuade her to terminate her pregnancy. She never wavered, not for a second, and fought the hardest fight she ever had.
The day Brady was born, she was not welcomed with excitement and endearment from the nurses and doctors, but rather your baby will never walk, never talk, and had a life expectancy of about 6 years. Brady had other health concerns as well, as is often the case with down syndrome babies, and being higher risk with later in life pregnancies.
She fought the system, finally found a caring pediatrician, and health care workers to help her, not hinder her. She has never been negative, holds no resentment, and loves life with Brady, and her husband, every single day. Yes, there are struggles, and disappointments, but she treats them all as gifts.
Brady today has just finished elementary school (grade 5 in Manitoba), and is very much looking forward to middle school. He is an avid baseball player, and fan. Probably the biggest Blue Jay fan I have ever met! He has been invited to play in the Blue Jays baseball camps, and this past year was named a Blue Jays hero, and was in their commercials.
He is so Smart!! He is an all around sports fan, has read every book on Hockey, and Baseball, and can probably tell you every stat out there. He runs a B+ to A average in school, and soaks up everything he can. He loves life.
These 2 people are heroes to me. They take adversity and negativity and turn it into opportunity and love.
Thank you for listening, and I hope everyone can share the hero in their life.
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