Hi, my name is Pete Rodríguez and I’m writing this blog to motivate and inspire other people with disabilities to believe in themselves and to believe that they can accomplish anything in life. No matter what other people think or say, a person with a disability can be anything they want in life; and I’m living proof of that. But I know that I can accomplish so much more and thanks to Tammy I get the opportunity to do so.
Before I got sick from this illness, I was a carefree and happy kid. I could walk and run like any other kid. I used to play in the swings with my brothers and ride bikes with my friends. I was a very outgoing kid. When I started to walk, I remembered that I had to wear special shoes because I had flat feet, and my brothers would call my shoes Frankenstein shoes.
But The day I got sick significantly changed my life. I still remember that day so clearly like it was yesterday. I remember my cousin and I coming home from Sunday school and going across the street to my grandma’s house to eat. And after we finished eating my aunt told us to take our neighbor some flowers because his wife recently had died from cancer. So, we went to his house and while we were inside his house, he gave us a stuffed doll that smelled very strong. When I smelled the doll, it completely changed my life (I think the doll had some sort of chemical inside that relieved his wife from her pain every time she smelled it). I was a week from my 8th birthday when all of this happened. I had to spend 2 months in the hospital. I spent my 8th birthday in the hospital. When I tried to speak, I couldn’t verbalize my words. How was I handling this? I was scared. From this moment on I knew my life was never going to be the same. And my mom was my biggest supporter. She spent day and night with me in the hospital. But Thank God nothing happened to my mind, only my body.
When I was in the hospital I could only answer yes and no questions with my feet. I used to go to school in the hospital, and due to me not being able to talk or move I had to solve every math problem by shaking my foot to answer yes or no. And the doctors would tell my parents that I would never be able to walk or talk again, and that I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. When I was released, I could barely move. But thanks to my mom giving me warm baths to relax my muscles I would slowly regain my movement. I had to learn how to do everything over again. I had to use a wheelchair to get around. I also had to use a neck brace to hold my head up because I didn’t have the strength to hold my neck up myself. I couldn’t even drink from a straw. When I was thirsty someone had to give me something to drink from a syringe, and whenever I drank Ensure (a protein drink because I couldn’t eat solid foods), I had to drink it from a syringe too. From this day, drinking Ensure makes me nauseous and it makes me feel like throwing up.
As a result, I don’t like depending on other people for anything. And my mom knew that I didn’t like other people doing things for me. One day after school she told me that if I didn’t like being in a wheelchair and waiting for other people to push me around that I should learn how to walk again. And her words were very powerful to me. Since this happened, I knew that if I wanted things to change that it had to start with me.
This was a significant and valuable lesson in my life. From this moment on I knew that I had to work hard at everything I did in life and never give up. With the help of my mom and uncle I taught myself how to walk again. I would stand up on the side of the couch or lean up on the wall; I would try to balance myself before I would take a step to learn how to walk. Every time I fell, I would get right back up and do it again. I don’t have great balance, but I can walk without any assistance.
After I learned how to walk again, I learned how to run, ride a bike, and catch and throw a ball, and with assistance I learned how to drink and eat by myself.
Therefore, because of my mindset (believing that that anything is possible) I learned how to drive a car, a forklift, and got my degree in liberal studies from Cal Poly even though a lot of people doubted me.
And I still remember how people used to look at me at the gym when I used to work out. People would stare at me thinking that I didn’t know what I was doing and that I would hurt myself. But as time went on, I earned a lot of people’s respect because they would see me working hard every time I did my work out. Every time I went to the gym I was focused; ready to dominate each exercise that I was doing. And I would lift heavy weights too. For example, I would squat 180 pounds, and I used to bench press 120 pounds. My back and shoulders were my favorite body parts to work out.
People also stared at me when I went to get my forklift certificate. They would look at me like I didn’t know what I was doing. But I knew exactly what I was doing. Especially, because I worked in my family’s rubbish company for over 15 years and that was a big part of my life.
A lot of people have doubted me throughout my life, but I keep on proving them wrong. For example, since my mom passed away my family has doubted me and called me names. Some of them even treat me like a little kid but their words can’t hurt me. All they do is motivate me even more to work hard to accomplish all my goals in life
No matter what other people think of you or your abilities you should always believe in yourself and never give up. Don’t ever put any limitations on yourself. You should always strive to be the best you can in life. Always have the courage to do whatever makes you happy and follow your dreams. Because no matter what other people think of me, I will always have a positive mindset and never stop believing in myself,
