When we are pregnant, it is one of the most exciting times in our lives. It seems as if every moment is a new experience, and we wait for the milestones that really move us forward toward the birth. That was what Whitney Dinkel was going through and she was excited about her 20-week ultrasound appointment. She was counting down the days with her husband Adam until they could see their little one on the screen in front of them. Unfortunately, something was spotted during that appointment.
The doctors broke the news to the couple; their unborn son had in utero spina bifida and things were not looking good. The neural tube had not developed properly and their son had defects in his spine. Although their son would be born, he would be facing a life with many difficulties. From the moment that he came into the world, there would be multiple medical tests, doctor’s appointments, and ongoing pain. Of course, they would love the child no matter what and thankfully, things turned out in a very positive way.
When Roman was born, he was shown love and admiration by his entire family. They put him in physical therapy and gave him a childhood that was as close to normal as possible. The problem was, Roman would play with other children but the mother would see that he was stuck in one place because of his spina bifida but the other children were running around.
Roman never complained about his situation but his parents knew that it was emotionally draining for the young child. It was then that an idea occurred to his mother and something was born out of necessity. Not only was it a wonderful thing for Roman, it is something that gives hope to all children who have limited mobility.
Whitney shared the following in a Facebook post:
“So I got a crazy idea last night that Roman needed a pair of forearm crutches. I texted Roman’s therapist at like 9:30 pm and told her my thoughts and she agreed it was a great idea! She’s so awesome that she brought him a pair over today! She happened to have his exact size in her closet.
We had no idea how he would respond to his new ‘sticks,’ I figured he’d either love them or absolutely hate them. Well, as soon as he saw them he was in love! He kept saying ‘I love my new stick!’ and he was super eager to give them a try. I think he was extra excited because of Chrissy from Daniel Tiger, she also uses sticks to walk and he loves Daniel Tiger!
It’s obviously going to take some time for him to learn how to use them but I think he’s doing a great job for now! It will be so nice to not have to bring his walker everywhere with us, he’ll be able to walk on different terrain (like the grass!), and he’ll be able to walk in more places!”
As it turns out, this simple idea was a wonderful success. Roman went from a child who was limited in his ability to move around to exploring the entire house. He goes from one area to another nonstop and it seems as if the entire world has opened up in front of him.
You can watch Roman with his ‘sticks’ for the first time in this video: