The parents of 2 year old Cillian Jackson faced a horrible dilemma. Their child suffered from a genetic condition (similar to cerebral palsy) that made it difficult to control his body. Unfortunately, due to the horribly twisted rules, this very same genetic condition also meant that insurance companies would deny reimbursement for a wheelchair for young Cillian and the parents could not afford paying for one themselves with the costs being over $20,000 (Rs 14.4 lakh).
In their times of need, they found an unlikely saviour.
When Cillian's dad, Tyler Jackson, reached out to Farmington High School to see if they could help in any way, even he did not expect what would happen next. The robotics team - consisting of young school children - took it upon themselves to do what the insurance companies had denied and get Cillian moving.
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| Farmington High School Robotics Team member Alex Treakle working on the wheelchair. |
They bought a Power Wheels toy and then set about changing every electrical component within in, then added a seat from a bicycle and finally 3D printed a customized joystick that Cillian could use.
The power wheelchair they built worked perfectly and Cillian would return months later to the school, much to the delight of the children who built him his 'new wheels'.
"I think we won here more than we do in our competitions.”
- robotics team member Nicole Cash.
"That’s the great part of my job, to work with these kind of kids.”
Spencer Elvebak, Farmington High School Robotics Coach.
Authors note:
I have been tracking lovely human beings from across the world for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties who will restore your faith in humanity.
Want more stories of compassion to brighten up your day? Hundreds of 'Heroes of Kindness' can be found here:
Heroes of Kindness - 2017 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2018 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2019 edition
Heroes of Kindness - Indian edition
Want more stories of compassion to brighten up your day? Hundreds of 'Heroes of Kindness' can be found here:
Heroes of Kindness - 2017 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2018 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2019 edition
Heroes of Kindness - Indian edition
This post is part of the We Are the World Blogfest, a monthly event to showcase stories of compassion. The idea is to spread positivity and light to counterbalance the negativity and darkness in social media. You can check their pages to find the list of feel-good stories written by bloggers from around the world.
Your cohosts for this month are:
Susan Scott, Peter Nena, Shilpa Garg, Mary J. Giese and Damyanti Biswas
Roshan your posts restore our faith back in humanity especially the ones involving kids.
ReplyDeleteAndd a wonderful post!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a generous thing to be done for special need children. It'll boost up their morale too.
ReplyDeleteChildren seem to have more kindness and more of an ability than we adults have to be able to respond to a need. These ones are extraordinary! Thank you for this wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteI'm a philanthropist myself. I can relate to people who have empathetic view of the world.
ReplyDeleteKids have the purest hearts and intentions - God bless them all for such a wonderful effort and what rewards they have reaped here. Thanks for sharing such a heartwarming story Doc.
ReplyDeleteHi Roshan - what an amazing school ... absolutely brilliant - and I'm so pleased for Cillian and his parents - it must make a load of difference to them ... what a brilliant way to learn, as well as having the school showing a broader community how to achieve. Loved it - thank you ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteSuch empathy in young kids! My eyes went misty. Insurance companies that make billions out of common clients, should hang their head in shame. But this post is about kids that are coming up with great fellow feeling. Tomorrows leaders of society.
ReplyDeleteThis post of yours made me believe that world isn't that bad yet. Still a lot of kindness left. Thanks for such a beautiful post.
ReplyDelete@pooja the whole point with the humans of Kindness series is just that... To give people hope when they feel the world is such a dark place.
ReplyDelete@Vidya, thank you :)
@Richa it is an amazing gesture. I wonder if other schools would consider replicating the idea.
ReplyDelete@Susan,Ive always felt the present day kids are the solution to the messes we've made. We just need to keep the world stable enough for them to grow up!
@ArtinCrochet wonderful to hear that.
ReplyDelete@Shalz,happy to share such stories everyday.
@Hilary I know. It is a wonderful way to learn and yet at the same time teach the children empathy as well.
ReplyDelete@Abhijit i considered focusing more on the insurance aspect before finally reducing it to one line.
@Vidhu...happy to make your day better :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful feeling to come back to your posts full of stories of kindness and humanity. In a world full of hatred now, these stories keep thw hooe alive.
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ReplyDeleteoh wow!! this is so beautiful! What a wonderful cause. And kudos to the school management for taking this up. Wonderful share Doc.
@Sonia, thank you so much... I do hope to keep doing the same as long as possible.
ReplyDelete@Rajlakshmi, yes... the school too deserves a huge round of applause for what they've done encouraging such a project
You really need to stop making me teary eyed at work!
ReplyDeleteThe students, the school, they sure are God sent to be so kind. Thank you for bringing out such stories and making each one of us try to be a better, kinder person.
Your posts in this series always reaffirm our faith that the world is not that bad and there is still hope
ReplyDeleteWow such a good humanity presenting reality you showed that we often see in movies only thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteEverytime I begin to lose faith in the world we live in, stories such as these give me hope again :)
ReplyDeletesuch a wonderful gesture by the team. I can imagine the happiness on the face of the child when he was able to move for the first time. #Princyreads
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful gesture, and that dear boy looks so thrilled :). thanks for sharing this, Doc Roshan.
ReplyDeleteThis is a shining example of compassion, kindness and empathy. Kudos to these brilliant and tech savvy kids from Farmington High School! More power to them! Thanks for sharing this heart-warming story, Roshan!
ReplyDeleteThis truly reaffirms my faith in humanity. That was a truly selfless act! Kudos to the kind-hearted geniuses of Farmington High School! Thanks for sharing. The post made my heart swell with happiness.
ReplyDeleteThat is something international kinda post
ReplyDeleteI always have upper hand for those whose religion is humanity
Loved the post
Such a great post. loved every word of it and it has given a sensation of happiness while reading. Thankyou so much for writing this.
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