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This article is a condensed chapter titled “He Saw Me Walking” from the book Parkinson's Disease, A Gift From God by Richard Iles. Rick hopes to publish the book this fall.
Parkinson's Disease is a silent, cruel, and invasive enemy. It is worse than a disease. It steals and almost never gives back. It steals different things from different victims and then leaves each of them feeling empty. In the past 16 years it has stolen a lot from me, but it has really been a gift that I have been given. This thievery, in a way that I don’t understand, has resulted in character building in my life. God has chosen to use this disease as a way to chisel me into the man he wants me to be.
I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 16 years ago when I was 53 years old. I responded well to the medicines and for two years it seemed as if the disease was under control. Then all at once, it seemed as if I fell apart. I had trouble with extremely low blood pressure. I also had problems with balance, and I fell several times. I started having dyskinesia especially during the off-time of my medicine. I had dystonia in my left foot. This was the most troublesome of these symptoms. My foot was cramped all the time and it was very painful. My doctor gave me Botox shots in my leg and ankle but they just masked the pain. They didn't solve the problem.
In September, 2013, I was at a church festival and Rob, a friend of mine, was watching me walk across a field. I was really limping badly, and he realized he had never really noticed how I walked. For the first time, He Saw Me Walking, and he decided to ask me why I had so much trouble. I told him about dystonia and he told me that he was aware of a device that might help me walk normally. It was called a WalkAide. Rob set me up an appointment to come to his office so I could try it out. When I arrived, he explained the WalkAide as an electrical stimulation device which sends impulses to your foot and ankle. It's a small computer strapped to your leg. He explained that Parkinson's Disease had stolen the connection between my knee and my ankle. My nerves were not getting the messages from my brain down to my foot. This device should restore that stolen connection. He coordinated it with a computer, did some tests, entered some additional information into the computer, and turned it on. It worked immediately. It took the cramping away and it told my foot how high to lift, how far to extend for my stride, and even how to hit the ground. Rob and I were both elated to say the least. Rob let me use his WalkAide on trial for 2 months. I decided I would purchase one but it was $6,000. He agreed to let me pay it off slowly, even for only $50 a month. I couldn't decide what to do.
Meanwhile, I went to a wedding and I saw another friend named Charlie Fehrman. He Saw Me Walking and he told me I looked better than I had looked in a long time. He knew something was different but he couldn’t pin it down. So I told him about the WalkAide. I also told him that my insurance company had just informed me they would not pay for it. Sometime in the next few days, he discussed this with his family. They decided to start a GoFundMe account with a goal of raising $6,000 to pay for my WalkAide. They emailed everyone they knew, they contacted their friends on Facebook and on other social media and got the word out. In just the first three days of the fundraiser they collected over $6,000! The fundraiser lasted for 31 days and when it was over they had raised $13,807.70.
I was totally surprised when my doorbell rang on Thanksgiving morning, 2014, and there stood Charlie Ferhman. My family was eager for me to let him in. They were excited because they knew what was happening. I just asked, “What are you doing here?” I still didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. Charlie showed me the video of his appeal for getting donations and then he handed me a check for $13,807.70. I just cried. I had no words to express my gratitude. I still cry when I tell this story. It was a terrific day in the Iles household.
This money not only paid for the WalkAide, it allowed us to build a much needed bathroom for me on the first floor of our home. With the leftover money, I also, with the donor's permission, gave some of the money away to a few other Parkinson’s patients.
Not only was I blessed by what the WalkAide itself did for me, I was also blessed by all the money that was donated to me. Indeed, I am blessed with wonderful friends and a great God who answers prayers. Perhaps my mother said it best, “If God wants you to have it, then He will provide a way for you to get it.”
And He did!