Off and running

MILL CREEK — Jordy Erazo Cordero of Ecuador wasn’t content viewing life from the sidelines.

The 8-year-old wanted to be able to walk to school. He wanted to run and play soccer with his friends.

But because Jordy was born with tibial hemimelia, or deformed lower legs, his physical activity was severely limited. The only way he could transport himself was by walking on his knees or dragging himself over the ground.

Jordy’s single mother, who works as a secretary to support her extended family, could not afford to pay for the leg surgery and prostheses necessary to allow Jordy to walk. And the required medical technology and resources were not accessible to doctors in Ecuador, where the family lives.

Luckily, Healing the Children was able to assist Jordy. The organization arranged for his visit to the Shriners Hospital in Portland, Ore., in July 2001. There, the doctors could do what eluded the Ecuadorian doctors at no cost to Jordy’s family.

Jordy returned to Ecuador after his treatment was complete and last summer, after only one year with his new legs, he competed in and won his first race. The foot race was Ecuador’s version of the Special Olympics.

“Very happy, very happy, very happy,” Jordy, now 10, chanted in a sing-song voice, describing how he felt after winning the race.

Jordy came back to the U.S. earlier this month to be fitted for new leg prostheses at Shriners Hospital. The hospital will provide him with new legs when he outgrows the old ones, which will probably be every two years or so.

Jordy is staying with Rebecca Snyders, of Mill Creek, and her family until his expected departure at the end of July.

Before he returns to his hometown of Guayaquil in his native country and starts the fifth grade, Jordy has one more important appearance to make.

He will be the special guest at the second annual Kirtley-Cole Charity Golf Tournament to benefit Healing the Children today at the Harbour Pointe Golf Club in Mukilteo.

Snyders, director of marketing and development for the Oregon and Western Washington chapter of Healing the Children, said Jordy is eager to get running on his new legs.

“He’s told me a couple times he’d like to race again,” she said. “You know, he has to kind of get used to his new (legs), but he goes very fast on them. I have to remind him to slow down.”

It will take Jordy some time to get adjusted to his new legs, but Snyders said he doesn’t let setbacks deter him.

“When he falls he gets right back up. He never cries like most kids his age (would),” she said. “He just gets up, brushes himself off, and says, ‘OK, one more time, let’s go.’”

And Jordy has been getting used to his second set of legs fairly quickly.

He booted around a soccer ball and netted a goal last Saturday for the first time since his surgery, Snyders said. Jordy has been going to soccer camp along with Snyders’ children.

Snyders said her two children, ages 10 and 13, have been enjoying Jordy’s company, and will be sad when it’s time for him to leave.

His positive outlook on life will linger.

“(Jordy) doesn’t complain about anything,” Snyders said. “My daughter noticed that, and said, ‘You know mom, I’m not going to complain about anything again, because I have it so good.’”

Although he mainly speaks Spanish, Jordy has learned how to write letters and spell in English, and he enjoys practicing on Snyders’ palm pilot.

He scrawls something across the screen with his left hand and holds the machine up.

“Ecuador,” he said with a smile.

Healing the Children is a national, non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to providing medical care to need children from the U.S. and around the world. For further information, or to find out how to help, contact the Healing the Children office at 425-252-4505 or visit www.htc-or-wa.org.