Joel heads to Boston, hoping to walk again
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This article was published 06/12/2013 (4244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After a long 20 months of constant pain, 12 year-old Joel Thiessen of Steinbach is flying to Boston on Saturday with hopes of healing therapy and dreams of walking, again.
“It’s a great Christmas gift,” said his mother, Marlys. “We’ll be separate for the holidays and it will be challenging. But we’re looking forward to seeing Joel coming back feeling a lot better.”
The boy and his dad, Darnell, will leave Steinbach on Saturday and spend a couple of weeks together while Joel goes through some intense physiotherapy. Marlys will stay home with the couple’s two younger children. The parents will then switch places until the treatment is over.
“We don’t know how long he’ll be out there,” said Marlys. While the Children’s Hospital in Boston does not offer any guarantees, the family is hopeful to see significant improvement in their son’s condition.
Joel fractured his ankle nearly two years ago while playing outside at school. The injury healed but he developed RSD, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, brought on by nerve damage.
“The nerves short circuit, they don’t shut off,” Marlys explained. Joel’s nervous system has been in overdrive and his brain receives constant messages of pain, preventing him from walking.
Numerous physiotherapy sessions at the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg came to an end this past August when Joel did not respond to the treatment.
“There wasn’t any more they could do for him,” Marlys said. “Shortly after that, we found out that the Boston Children’s Hospital accepted us. They provide something that Canada does not offer; a very intense program.”
The Thiessen family has their hospital cost covered but they still need to find the money to pay for their travel and accommodations as well as any other daily expenses while in Boston. They will also need to pay for the follow up visits. This is where they are looking to their family, friends and community for help.
A fundraising spaghetti dinner will take place on Dec. 17 at Friedensfeld Hall. There will also be a silent auction. Tickets are being sold until Dec. 13 at Pets of the Arc in Clearspring Centre and at Adele’s Pies and Cakes on Main Street in Steinbach. Financial donations can be made to Southland Church designated to the Thiessen Project. Online donations can be made at youcaring.com, search Joel Thiessen.
“I imagine seeing him running again.”