The first time I sat through Joe's story about his daughter Olivia, I cried. I harrdly noticed that almost 2 hours had passed by the time he finished up, and it was one of those stories that stuck with me for weeks. I couldn't stop thinking about it!
Olivia was born with an underdeveloped left heart, an underdeveloped right lung, scimitar syndrome, and a host of other issues that ended up putting her on the list for a heart transplant. She has had multiple open heart surgeries, a tracheostomy, a ventilator and a feeding tube. She has had to learn to eat on her own, breathe on her own, and learn how to speak. She is currently the 1st child in the world to survive past the age of two with all of the conditions that she has.
Joe became an EMT first and then a daddy to a child with special needs, so having him come and speak to our new EMTs, is an absolute must, as far as I'm concerned. I sit through the talk twice a year, and I still tear up and then cheer for Livy and her parents as she defies all odds.
I have small children, I know how crazy life gets. But whenever I am sick of the whining in my house, I think about Olivia. She couldn't make a sound for almost the first two years of her life. And when I take the time to reflect a little, my life is pretty easy, my problems are pretty small, and I have so much to learn. I have so much to be thankful for.
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