A Red Cross Christmas Story

A very special Christmas gift this year has come in the form of one of the bravest, most determined and sweetest 11 year old boys I've ever had the pleasure of working with and knowing.

This is a story for the holidays no doubt. It is one of hope, resilience, beauty, and humility.

Side note: As a therapist it is my duty to keep client information confidential. However, this boy who I will call John (pseudonym), his mother, and the staff at Red Cross have agreed and asked that I tell this triumphant tale, including the photographs and artwork. In this way we can share his story of what is only the beginning stages of recovery, in addition to educating others about different ways in which art therapy can be applied and the work that is being done here at the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town.

A month ago John was admitted to the Burns Unit after being in a horrific electrical fire. The damage to his legs was quite bad, but worse was that to his arms, both of which could not be saved and had to be amputated immediately. As one can well imagine: the trauma, shock, horror and disbelief of such a sudden life altering event led John into a serious depression. The first two weeks I saw John he wouldn't really look or speak to me. He lay helpless, still, and silent in his bed staring off into the distance. I would chat and tell him I was going to draw or paint pictures for him and tell him stories to go with the images. He seemed indifferent but I just kept on and continued to come see and paint for him.

The beginning of last week there seemed to be a slight shift as he spoke a bit to me, watched intently as I worked with the other children in the ward, and was quite curious about what the kids were drawing or painting. I could see the longing in his eyes as his buddy (also the same age) in the bed next to him painted page after page freely and with ease. It had occurred to me when I first saw John that when/if he was ready there was the possibility and potential of my doing art with him in which he could use his mouth (and later feet). However, this was uncharted territory for me and seemed a bit of a daunting task as John and I hadn't established much of a repor yet. At any rate, while sitting next to and working with John's neighbor and seeing I had his attention, I had a sudden urge to demonstrate how to hold a fat marker pen in my mouth and I said "John, watch this," as I put the pen in my mouth and wrote on the paper: "HI JOHN!" I watched as his eyes got big and followed this by asking if he wanted to give it a try. A small shy nod and I knew this was my in. Painstakingly and with sweat dripping down his forehead I held paper on clipboard up for him as he moved the pen with his mouth slowly and wrote just as I had: "Hi John." "Great, no problem right, how bout we try some paint and a paintbrush," and again that same shy nod. A very small rudimentary house is what he painted. His face displayed a whole lot of surprise over his accomplishment. "I knew you could do it and look what you made!" One single smile arose, the first I had seen since meeting him. I tapped his Mother who dozed in a chair next to his bed to show her his work and she began silently weeping as she nodded at me, beamed and carefully put his pictures into her purse. SUCCESS comes in many shapes and sizes.

I returned to the Red Cross yesterday and was unsure how John would react to making art again as he seemed so exhausted and somewhat sad after his last session with me (albeit also surprised and proud). I hoped we could continue where we left off. To my delight as soon as I walked into the ward, he yelled across the room to me, "Hey I'm ready to paint!" 10 drawings/paintings later and I was thrilled to see that each one was more detailed, larger in scale and more vibrant/colorful than the last. Also incredible was the attention that we drew to ourselves and the fact that this was really the first day that both Doctors and Nurses truly recognized not only me as a colleague, an equal and important part of the team but also the work I've been doing there the last 3 months and the value of having art therapy at the hospital. Unfortunately it took something so extreme as a boy with no arms painting for the staff to say "Hey great work, thank you, keep it up, Wow, Amazing, this is profound, he's made huge gains since you saw him last and started working with him, whatever you're doing is working, what's your name again" and so on. However, I'll take it and I wont lie when I say it felt really really good to be SEEN, HEARD and RECOGNIZED, finally.

I worked off and on with John today for 5 hours, with breaks in between as it's hard work making art with your mouth! Long story short (or shorter), today's boy was a completely different person. Confident, outgoing, chatty, enthusiastic, excited, energetic, silly and wanting to paint and draw all day long, which is why I stayed 3 hours longer than my regular shift to continue working with him. That and the fact that he gets released to go home on Friday and I want to spend as much time with him as possible as it is so obvious and apparent how transformative demonstrating and showing him that he can be successful in life and art without the use of his hands/arms has been. I was only meant to work 2 short shifts this week before going on break for the holidays, but have since decided that my Christmas gift to John will be 5 full days of my time, energy and devotion before he is released to go home. The more confidence I can help him to gain, the better off I believe he will be in the real world.

Today was yet another incredible day with my little friend filled with art and play. Bright, colorful, cheerful paintings, leading to John putting the paintbrushes in the water and paints on his own (without my assistance which was a first), excitement about returning to family and home just in time for Christmas, goofy made-up stories about Father Christmas, descriptions of snow and the North Pole, a walk together in the sunshine to the playground to play, racing each other (he's a fast runner this kid), a little field trip through the hospital (and a side trip to the cafeteria to get snacks for John and his buddy), revised games of Memory, Shoots and Ladders, and a puzzle. Reading books together, more drawings, laughter, Popsicles, demonstrating his floor/mat exercises for me, photos, and a whole lot of excitement in the ward about John's new found skills through art therapy.

In addition to seeing the children for art therapy in the burns unit, tomorrow and Thursday I will bring in face paints to paint the children's faces, hands or other skin that isn't burned and dressed. Friday I will play Santa Claus (or Father Christmas as they call it here) and bring in little gifts and clown noses (which I'm going to attempt to get the staff to wear first) that an art therapist friend from Canada sent me after using them in her recent art therapy volunteer work in Haiti post-earthquake. I have put together an extra special gift for John which includes an easily accessible little bag that my Aunt is going to help me sew a neck-strap on that can slip over John's neck. Inside I'm putting 2 art books: one with blank pages the other with lined pages, paints, brushes, large markers and a note from me telling him how he's changed and affected my life and of course encouraging him to keep making art, to continue writing, drawing and sharing with the world the joy he brings others through his beautiful images.

New day/Wednesday: This work and story just keeps getting better. Today I brought in the usual large plastic bowl of art supplies and clipboards with paper and laid them at the bottom of John's bed. Without thinking and quite unconsciously I put the glass jar with paint brushes right next to his feet. As we chatted and talked about what kinds of materials he would like to start with he began grabbing paintbrushes with his toes and moving his feet in little circular motions as if painting. "Ah, ha," I said, "It looks like it's time to give painting with your feet a try!" And that was that, 3 images and the writing of his full name were done with great control, precision, and care. It just so happened that the man who heads up the Paediatric Burns Unit at Red Cross Children's Hospital, came in at this point which was perfect timing. He photographed John, us working together, all his images made to date, documented the work, informally interviewed me about this new intervention, and was extremely impressed. I've been asked to submit a report and case study and the hope is that when I leave Red Cross someone can officially be hired to work with the amputee patients in the Burns Unit in this manner. It appears as though I may just of found my calling. Additionally, the head of the Burns commented on the strong connection that John and I have established and explained to me that it's looking like John will not in fact make it home for Christmas. This is due to the rural area where he lives (approximately 2 hours North of Cape Town), the fact that his family can't get time off from working in the vineyards and has no form of transportation. He wondered if I might like to spend part of Christmas day with him as all the other children will be released from the Burns Unit and he will be all alone without family or friends. Broken hearted, I immediately started brainstorming and asked if permission was granted from family and hospital if I could drive and deliver John home on Christmas Eve day. "Absolutely, that would be incredible," was his answer. Tomorrow morning we will meet with John's social worker to see if it's doable and work out the details. It's looking like it's going to be an incredibly touching Christmas this year.

Wow, what a way to end the year and the first half of my art therapy work in South Africa! So much gratitude and thanks to my little friend who is such a blessing and reminder of all that is beautiful and inspirational in the world this holiday season.

P.S. If you want to make a difference this Christmas, please feel free to donate a monetary amount towards the children I'm doing art therapy with here in South Africa. There is a very user-friendly"donate" paypal button at both the top and bottom of this page, or go directly to the donation page here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=f2PoL4AfLwJuTpMOaMbwo8UVKazFrTy9B6eCynslJN5iAupKhZId1Cdg47G&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d9384d85353843a619606282818e091d0. I have spent my own personal money buying art supplies as Christmas gifts for the children at the Red Cross and in the townships that I work with and am also out of disposable cameras (which I would like to continue using in my photo art therapy projects with my clients). Any and all donations will go towards art supplies, programming, and disposable cameras/developing film. Every little bit counts even if it's only $5, and after all it is the season of giving! Thanks in advance and to those especially who have already donated, your money has been put to excellent use and is indeed making a difference! Thank you, thank you.