DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

Occasionally, life comes full circle. Such has been the case with 59-year-old Rosanne Maas of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

In 1998, Maas' sister experienced a debilitating stroke. Soon after while listening to radio, Maas learned of a faith-based organization called Joni and Friends, which serves families affected by disability. In a telephone interview, Maas said, “Then I wrote (Joni and Friends) concerned about how I could help my sister and they responded.” Maas would maintain contact with the organization even after her sister's death in 2000.

In 2007, she became a camp volunteer when Joni and Friends opened a family retreat in Minnesota. “I was paired with a family who had a child with autism,” she said. “I had no experience with autism. It was a whole new experience.” In part, her job that week was to spend quality time with the child in various retreat activities while mom and dad re-energized.

One week after her third retreat as a volunteer, on September 9, 2009, the unthinkable happened. “My husband and I were passengers in a car traveling on I-90 in South Dakota,” she began. “The driver of our car fell asleep and went off the road. I don't remember much. But I had a broken neck, ribs, and bones in my lower back.”

After being transported over time to different hospitals, she was discharged in January 2010. That August, in an odd turn of events, she and her husband attended the next family retreat as a couple affected by disability. A volunteer was assigned to them.

“My initial diagnosis was quadriplegia,” she said, referring to a person with paralysis in four limbs. “But I now can use my arms and hands. My fine motor movement isn't good, but I can feed myself, and I can lift my left leg now for transferring. My hope and prayer is to one day walk with a walker.” Her loss of independence has been trying, though. She needs her husband's help just to roll over in bed and take showers, for instance.

Through everything, she has grown closer to her husband and God, and has more compassion for people with disabilities, she said. This August, in coming full circle, she will have improved physically to the point she and her husband once again can be retreat volunteers serving a family affected by disability.

Facebook: “Disabilities by Daniel J. Vance” [Blue Valley Sod and Palmer Bus Service made this column possible.]