“My Thoughts Are My Reality” Also seen on www.herrochester.com
By Pam Sherman | February 10, 2010
I want to tell you about my friend. My friend from Casablanca, Morocco. My friend, is a mother of four, executive, advocate and fundraiser. And she does it all from a wheel chair. When her two oldest children were young she and her husband took a trip to Costa Rica. Riding bikes in a remote area, she took a fall and said to her husband, “I can’t get up.” It was in that moment she knew she would never walk. She endured a harrowing transport back to civilization. They told her she might not live let alone walk. But the whole time she knew she would survive. Upon reaching a hospital in the city, her husband asked if she needed anything. “Yes, a souvenir - I missed my vacation.” With this kind of grit and sense of humor she continued her journey in Rochester, Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic as there was no rehab facility in all of North Africa that could support her injury. Her next mission, she told her husband, “We will have two more children.” She said this before even getting out of the hospital. Why? They always wanted a big family and she wasn’t going to let her injury stop her. Her next mission? Build a proper rehab facility in Morocco so that no one else would have to do their recovery away from home. After 6 months in Minnesota and Paris she returned to Morocco and contacted the only disability rights group in Morocco and said, “We are going to raise enough money to build a rehab facility.” They did - the Noor Center for Rehabilitation in Casablanca. Oh, and those children she vowed to have: are now 15 and 12. A highlight of my trip to Morocco was the chance to take a tour of this facility. It was amazing. My thoughts are my reality. Try it.
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February 12th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Wow! What an incredible inspiration! This blows me away! The fact that she used her experience to give back and help others is so life affirming.
The fact that she didn’t let the accident prevent her from fulfilling her dream of a big family shows such innate strength and focus. Thanks so much for writing about her.
February 13th, 2010 at 11:17 am
She is an outlaw! A picture of the building is on www.herrochester.com .
July 20th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hi Pam!
Thanks a lot for those life saving phone calls! And, I did not have to pay for the Locksmith!(did give him some money though, for his hard work!).
This story is so beautiful and puts me to shame…here I am stalling to have my 3rd one…waiting to be settled (as if that will ever happen!). It really blew me over. Thanks for sharing! Take care,
the trailing wife!