Fulfilling The Promise

Just over 7 years ago my life was changed when a careless driver drove into a crosswalk and hit me as I was going across the street. 8 months of physio therapy and training for a cross continent cycling tour got my body back on track, however I sustained an acquired brain injury that would change my life in ways I never imagined. I had convinced myself that if my body healed enough to complete the cycling tour then I would be able to return to my normal life and everything would be fine. I was wrong.

Although I completed most of the cycling, it was harder than I thought, harder than it needed to be and afterward it became apparent that my life was not just going to return to what it was before my brain injury (ABI). I wasn’t able to return to my job, I struggled to figure out what employment future there was for me all while continuing to fight for fair compensation from a bullying insurance company and working with an extensive medical team to find the balance of treatment that would allow me to function on a day to day basis.

I was grateful to be surrounded by a very supportive community of family and friends but still they were dark days, some of which there were just no reason to get out of bed. I knew this had to change but struggled to find the right direction. A heart to heart conversation with my friend Jen, on a cold dark, night in her van had us both in tears but she gave me these words of comfort: “I don’t know how this will all turn out, but I do know that God loves you and has a plan for all this and that it will be OK. But I don’t know how”

That was a launch. A glimpse of hope. I decided that if things couldn’t go back to the life I loved than they needed to be really new and just as good. With trusted friends, who knew me well and had some HR experience we started analyzing my education, experience, skills and limitations and job/education opportunities. After hours of work, we came up with the idea of retraining to become a Licensed Optician. It would be new but related to the healthcare and optical past experience I had; there was a demand in London so I could stay in my community but it would require going back to school in another city, passing National Exams and starting over in mid-life.

I decided to try. I had everything and nothing to lose. I made a promise-That if this worked out, if I succeeded, then I would dedicate part of my career every year to missions.

It was a huge challenge. But door after door opened up. In the past, I had really enjoyed school but this was the hardest I had ever had to work to learn even with the accommodations made for my current disability. Hope was rewarded in November of 2011 when I got notification that I had passed my National Exams and was issued my licensed to practice in January 2012.

In the last few years, I’ve worked to build my skills as an optician and serve my patients well. I have also worked to re-establish my travel skills that have been hampered by the effects of my ABI, headaches, migraines, disorientation, medication, motor skills, and independence. There have been a few disasters but also a few great successes that built my confidence that soon I would be able to come good on my promise of giving back.

In July 2013, I got a call from my friend Richard-would I join a team of his going to the Dominican Republic to build a house. Can I think about it? Sure, he said, you have 6 days to say yes and pay your deposit. Sometimes you just need some pressure to make a good decision. Which is why I then put the same offer to my friends, Geoff and Karen, who had always wanted to do a mission but hadn’t had an invitation yet. 4 days later we were all in.

Of course, it only seemed reasonable to not just be the dumb labour on the construction team(I’m not saying physical labour is dumb-I’m referring to my knowledge base of construction skills) but to use my Optical skills if they were needed.
 

The offer was gladly accepted and I was told that they had never had an eye care professional in the villages before, did I only want to do 1 or could I do 3? I agreed to do whatever they needed without compromising our original goal of building the house.

I also discovered that there would be little to no equipment. So like building the house, instead of me just doing fitting, refractions and repairs for a few days, I made it a goal to bring enough equipment for them to set up a mini eye clinic and train the staff there to use it so that when I am gone, they will have what they need to continue.
It was a big goal but we weren’t going down to set up tents for shelter, we were building a house so if there was a way to bring a more permanent solution for eye care, I needed to do that too.
 
It is time to start fulfilling the promise