THE AFTERMATH OF JANUARY 12
January 12, 2010, tremendous earthquake and damage.
Jean Wesly, 5 years old at the time lost neither his father nor his mother.
But his body bears the traces of the earthquake.
During the earthquake there were strong shakings.
I had never seen something like this.
Houses were collapsing.
When I went out I realized there were many victims.
I was told it was an earthquake.
I remembered my son was there.
He was at home with 2 cousins.
I asked but no one had seen him.
The house where he was was destroyed.
It had collapsed.
But luckily in this house there was a large window.
And a gate below that broke his arm.
I decided to go see under the rubble.
I searched and found him.
I still had hoped to find him unharmed.
But when I took him out, his arm was partly crushed.
We went to the Dominican Republic with his mother.
There they told us his case was serious.
There was a link between his arm and his heart.
He had an infection.
They had to amputate or else his heart might be affected.
I gave my consent.
At least God had spared his life.
We had to sacrifice his arm. I resigned myself.
I wondered if he was going to adapt.
He could over time.
He wasn't too bothered.
He accepts himself. His friends give him nicknames.
He accepts.
One day, I do not remember too much under what circumstances ...
I nicknamed him "little arm"
Sometimes his friends call him that.
I said it without really knowing why.
It made him sad almost on the verge of tears.
I asked him what was wrong.
At first he didn't want to tell me.
When I insisted, he told me why.
He accepted that his friends call him that but he didn't want me to do it.
It touched me.
It is true that at first he was not a "little arm".
I shouldn't have called him so and it touched me.
This is what moved me the most and I will not do it again.
I never put him down. I never reject him.
We share everything.
Of all my children, he is the closest.
He feels good with me.
He is happy to have a father who understands him.
We get along well.
He helps me in everything.
He fetches me water, he piles the spices for me, he cooks for me.
I share with him all my little secrets.
In all circumstances, Wesly is my right arm.
He means a lot to me.
You imagine a one-handed boy who wants to do karate!
That's what he likes and he has proven himself.
I don't know how to explain it but Wesly is amazing.
He gets to do even things I thought were beyond his reach.
And there are many.
He rides a bicycle.
When I forbid him to do so he says he's having fun.
He plays sports, he runs. So many things !
We love Wesly a lot. He has my heart and all of his father's secrets.
He's the only one who does not eat his money.
Because of his disability, we want to support him as much as possible.