Faith can provide the foundation for resilience and hope and teach us lessons about life when the future seems impossible. That’s something that a Windham family discovered over the past year while undergoing a personal ordeal that tested their faith and strengthened their resolve.
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| Ethan March who grew up with his parents Brian and Kathleen March in Windham, became paralyzed from the waist down when he fell off a roof in a workplace accident a year ago. He is learning to cope with his injury and with the help of his parents and others he is hoping to become a pilot someday. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Trying to understand the seriousness of what had happened devastated the family. Ethan, who was less than a year into starting his career, was left paralyzed and struggling to cope while his parents did their best to lift his spirits and motivate him to go on.
“One of the hardest things for me is not being able to make things better for him,” said his mother, Kathleen March. “I can't heal his broken heart. I can't promise or even tell him he will get better because it's an unknown of time and faith. It's been hard to see our son who was just beginning his life in his chosen career, enjoying it and doing well to lose it all, including the possibility to be able to return to that job as he did it.”
Brian March said that the most challenging aspect of the situation for him as a father was watching his son suffer.
“Not just the struggles with getting in and out of the car and our house but thinking he may never walk again therefore not experiencing the feeling of sand under his feet or the snow under his skis or even just standing up to give me a hug,” he said.
And for Ethan, he says coming to terms with his injury and its implications was tough.
“The mental anguish of recognizing I'm going to be like this in this condition for the rest of my life is difficult,” he said.
As parishioners at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Windham, Brian and Kathleeen March prayed and placed their faith in God to help their son overcome the trauma and give them strength and hope.
Just before Thanksgiving, Ethan moved into an extended stay hotel in Portland in a handicapped suite with a tiny kitchenette.
“It’s far from ideal and there are still challenges with the layout of this suite for functioning with his wheelchair,” his mother said. “It’s difficult such as not being able to roll under the counters or the stove, not being able to reach most of the cabinet shelves, and in general just tight quarters for movement. The staff at the hotel have been great at trying to work with him to accommodate his individual needs. They treat Ethan and us like family and with kindness and generosity.”
In late December, American Legion Post Adjutant Dave Tanguay attended a coffee social after church with Kathleen March, and she updated him about Ethan.
“We were shocked to hear that Ethan had fallen earlier from a roof while installing solar panels and sustained severe back injuries requiring multiple surgeries and months of rehab,” Tanguay said. “Kathleen mentioned that Ethan was now in a handicapped-accessible hotel in Portland and was still undergoing therapy. The Windham Field-Allen Legion Post 148 had a small collection of support items for veterans including a motorized wheelchair.”
Tanguay said the equipment is normally held to support a veteran in need, but in this case, it was a local veteran family who needed support for their son.
“I asked if she might be interested in a particular chair that had the ability not only for mobility but allowed the user to stand and remain mobile,” he said. “I checked with Post Commander Tom Theriault to see if the chair was still available and the March family made plans to pick the chair up on Jan. 2. By the end of the day, Ethan had the chair and was actively checking out its capabilities with his physical therapist.”
Kathleen March said that the donation of the motorized wheelchair was provided at the perfect time.
“It was early into Ethan's time being back in Maine and being the winter season, the motorized chair helped Ethan to get through some snowy weather,” she said. “Portland is full of hills, so trying to manually wheel himself up those hills was exhausting and difficult. “The motorized chair meant he could meet up with friends at the coffee shop on his own without needing to transfer to a car and back again or need to be pushed by someone else. The motorized chair provided more independence in some ways. This chair also allowed for Ethan to rise to a somewhat standing position, which could help him reach some things up high a little easier in the hotel.”
Eventually, Ethan’s physical therapists advocated for a non-moving standing apparatus for exercise and strength development and the family returned the motorized wheelchair to the American Legion to provide the opportunity to another veteran family in need.
“It was an incredibly generous gift of kindness. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to have had such a valuable gift to be able to have the freedom of independence that it provided at a prominent point in Ethan's recovery,” Kathleen March said. “As an active 22-year-old that had only recently left his daily rehab facility to be able to feel more independent was simply amazing. There is nothing that would come close to reciprocating the value of what this gift was at the time that we received it. We are very grateful to the American Legion, and ‘Thank You’ doesn't seem big enough.”
Now a year after his accident, there has been no change regarding Ethan’s physical situation, but his spirits are unusually amazing. His parents say he does pretty good navigating the challenges of everyday life and tries not to let things get him down, although there are certainly moments that come and go.
“Spinal cord injuries affect so many aspects of how our bodies can function,” his mother said. “Unless you experience life in a wheelchair yourself or care for a person who is handicapped in this way, most people never really understand the magnitude of the situation day to day and how many obstacles there are to navigate out in public and how many limitations are set before you.”
Both Brian and Kathleen are doing OK and in a better place today.
“Life is full of ups and downs. Brian and I are people of strong faith and trust in God,” Kathleen March said. “In this difficult situation, God has already shown us his grace through our brothers and sisters in Christ and their prayers. We have seen the face of Jesus in neighbors as well as strangers through their kindness. There are still many challenges to work through both for us and especially for Ethan and we know that we are in God's hands. If we allow him, by continuing to trust in our relationship with him, God will make a way for the road to be less bumpy leading us to a beautiful place.”
She said the hardest part as parents is having patience as they navigate the critical aspects of what Ethan still needs like his adapted vehicle and their home revamped to meet all their needs as their son continues to visit with his siblings for all occasions.
“There are still so many other devices and things to navigate in his life including re-education to find a new life career and exploring his previous interests from a new perspective,” Brian March said.
Ethan says he’s grateful for everything his parents have done to help him, and that he is determined to forge a new life for himself.
“My new career plan is to do everything I can to become a commercial pilot," he said. <
