Joan

This is such an amazing story that I decided it needed to be blogged! In Feb 2009, I was in the DR with a group from Ohio. The pastor pulled them aside to share with them about a boy….really a man, who was 20 and had been in an auto accident in December. He had completely lost his leg just below the hip. To make matters worse he was in construction and would no longer be able to work. He had to move home with his sister and have her take care of him. The look on his face was if his life was over, which in his eyes, it was. To live in a community that I have a hard time getting up the steep hill and now at 20 not able to support himself, let alone a family.

Jennifer, from PA, immediately sent him a pair of crutches. The crutches he had were home made and not very stable. To get a real set of crutches made such a difference!

I immediately called Drew, at Trinity UMC, G’ville. They were having a medical mission team come in April and I thought surely they could bring a leg! My text read….”I need a leg.” He wrote back “a leg?”. As God continued to work, He laid this on the heart of a high school girl named Lexi. She called every prosthetic doctor she could find in G’ville. One of them called me and had 2 legs that he could donate but he told me the chances of them fitting were slim to none. He had me contact Shriners hospital in Tampa. After talking with doctors there, they only work with children and we would have to fly him in and pay for a minimum of 6 weeks so he could get the leg and do therapy. Next I was turned on to Patients for Peace. They gave me the contact number for a doctor in Santo Domingo. So the pastor and I called him and explained the story. When I was there in June, we drove to Santo Domingo and visited his clinic. He told us there was a doctor coming the end of June to Santiago and made an appointment for Joan. Joan went to the doctors appointment and now the end of October, he has a new leg!!! We are so thankful for everyone that has been keeping him in their prayers. And this all goes to show that with God, a student, this time named Lexi, can impact the life of someone!

Joan’s entire life is changed. Not only because he has a leg but because he now is active in the church. Every time I have gone to church, he was there. Not only was he there but he was there with a smile on his face. We have pictures of him goofing off, just like a 20 year old would! It is amazing to have God bless him with a new leg but it is even more rewarding to see a smile on his face and see him laugh again!