I remember years ago when I first saw the movie "Schindler's List" in the theater. Near the end, he was presented a ring forged from the gold fillings of Jewish prisoners he saved from the gas chambers. As they present it to him they quote a verse from the Koran, "For whoever saves one life saves the world entire."
Now, I'm certainly no Oskar Schindler, nor would I ever compare myself to him, but I have learned from him via the movie and eventually from reading the book (much better than the movie, as always). Here is what I learned - sometimes you have to go against the grain, you have to make ripples in the water to make waves on the shore.
I believe in inclusion - plain and simple. In a nation of all for one and one for all it would seem it's all for some and some for all. In Denmark, special needs seems to have become special treatment - like that of Oskar Schindler's time in Hitler's Germany where "special treatment" meant death in the gas chamber. But this time it's en utero. They hope to become Down syndrome free by 2030. How will they do this? According to Leticia Velasquez of The National Catholic Register -
"The test, MaterniT21, will eliminate the miscarriage risk of chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis, both invasive tests, and is far more reliable than current early blood tests.
But it is not a life-saving discovery for everyone. The fact is: 92% of mothers who discover that their unborn child has Down syndrome choose abortion."
Ask the Kim McGuffey, Connection Coordinator of my foundation I Run 4 (IR4), if she is disappointed in her little boy Aiden (pictured below). She says "he is the light and joy of my life!
But say I did, abort him or just say I never had him... I would have missed out on the purest innocence I've ever known. I would have missed out on learning what true compassion is. What it really means to accept something someone else deems to be imperfect or even worth discarding. To realize that perfection is found in the strangest of places. [I've said] that Aiden's eyes are the part of his Ds features that I love the most and those eyes are what shows everyone that he has Ds. But they are so unique and so beautiful. I would have hated to have missed those eyes. They are what look at me with that innocence and those are the eyes that looked at me after I learned he had Ds and said, I know I wasn't what you expected, but love me anyway"
Christina, who's son Andrew (pictured below) is confined to a wheelchair due to spastic quadriplegia, cerebral palsy, kyphosis, and hydrocephalus explains life with a special needs child like this "admittedly, we are often on the road less traveled, sometimes it even seems we are traveling this path alone. It is here where we make the most precious of memories, meet the most awesome people and appreciate all of the scenery. The speed limit here is a little slower, but this just gives us more time to appreciate the beauty that so many people on the fast track miss. Andrew was blessed with life the doctors said he wouldn't have. He has taught me to live it to the fullest."
Then there is Dick and Rick Hoyt - a father and son duo. A picture says a thousand words, so I won't describe the love of this father for his son. Instead, watch this video...
I'm no Oskar Schlindler. I do not face a death penalty for the preservation of lives that some deem unfit for our society. It would be ignorant to believe they have no quality of life. It would be a travesty to human kind to fall for the propaganda pushing for the destruction of these wonderful souls - before they see the light of day. Michael is my buddy - I run for him. He has blessed my life a thousand times over, so who do you run for?
