Oscar Experienced Love and Dignity Through Joni and Friends Wheels for the World

Meet Oscar…

Oscar is an eight-year-old boy with a playful smile and an outgoing personality. When his mother, Vilma, brought him to a Wheels for the World™ outreach in El Salvador, he made fast friends with the Joni and Friends team. And after Oscar received his properly fitted wheelchair, Vilma shared some of their family’s story…

Vilma remembers finding out that Oscar would be born with disabilities. During pregnancy doctors recommended an abortion. They told her that her son would be “a vegetable.” Some members of her community added to Vilma’s grief, calling her child’s disability a punishment from God. They told her he would be a burden.

“I told them: my son will never be a burden to me. He’s a blessing God gave me. And God will always help me. He will be with me moving forward despite the difficulties we may have,” said Vilma.

Since birth Oscar has lived with significant intellectual and physical disabilities. He has a form of spina bifida that includes a build-up of fluid in cavities within his brain. Because of the condition Oscar needed two emergency surgeries soon after birth to extract fluid from his brain.

More than a Wheelchair

When he was small, Vilma could carry Oscar where he needed to go. As he grew, carrying Oscar became too difficult. But Vilma and her husband couldn’t afford a quality wheelchair to give their son greater independence.

“As a mother this is very tough. It’s not easy. Oscar needs a lot of help. He’s always struggling,” Vilma says.

Through Joni and Friends Oscar got what he needed: a properly fitted wheelchair. Oscar liked his new wheelchair and couldn’t wait to get it moving.

Vilma said, “Once he’s in his wheelchair he’s free. He goes where he wants to. He uses it as he likes.”

Struck by the love of Christ they received through the wheelchair and the volunteers who delivered it, Oscar and Vilma expressed heartfelt gratitude:

“This is huge for us because we can’t afford this wheelchair. We know these wheelchairs are expensive. I’m thankful to all the kind-hearted people who have great love for others that they don’t even know.”

Vilma

You can provide children like Oscar with a wheelchair and the love of Christ!

In many countries across the globe, people with disabilities face discrimination and poverty, and can’t access the mobility equipment they desperately need. But because of God’s work through Joni and Friends, people like Oscar and his family are experiencing the love and dignity they deserve as God’s beloved children.