A miracle

“He loves people, but for years, he can only use a simple language to communicate,” his mother said. “He’s just very friendly and treats people very kindly.”

Still, Jojo’s medically fragile state remains a challenge for himself and his mother. Now 17 years old, Jojo requires ongoing care every hour of the day, including feeding, bathing, transporting him to doctor appointments, and putting on splints in the evening to secure his legs and hands. Jojo’s increasing weight also poses a problem as he cannot stand independently, making it more difficult for him to balance and for others to catch him.

Jojo’s mother, an engineer and single parent, decided to quit her job a few years ago to take care of Jojo. Trying part-time positions at a local grocery store or as a tutor, she realized that she could not leave Jojo for more than a few hours and had to leave those jobs too.

“I can’t say that I love him today then not love him tomorrow or only take care of him if I have money,” Jojo’s mother said. “It cannot be like that because he needs persistent love and care.”

Without a stable job, Jojo’s mother faces medical and living fees not covered by insurance, which only grows her financial burden. Costs for multiple trips to the hospital throughout the week, special diets that account for Jojo’s health, and transportation methods that accommodate his wheelchair all add up to mounting expenses in a country with surging prices necessary to maintain a comfortable standard of living.

In addition, her own health was soon put at risk after she injured her back trying to stop Jojo from falling multiple times. Unlike the average person, who can catch themselves when they fall, Jojo does not have the reflexes to prevent himself from getting hurt. As a result, he requires another person to always stay by his side to manually lift and assist him and to keep him safe.

Jojo’s mother took up that role to minimize the expensive cost of hiring someone else to care for him, but with this responsibility on top of financial stresses, she eventually damaged her physical well-being. While surgery would have been the best option to help Jojo’s mother recover, she did not follow through with her doctor’s suggestion out of her selfless love for her son, knowing that the surgery would cost her more money and time because no one would be by her side — or Jojo’s side — as she recovered.

Between these medical needs and financial struggles, his mother has faced and overcome multiple setbacks with the persistent faith that everything will improve, ultimately helping Jojo break out of the doctor’s “brain dead” label to now “medically fragile” with multiple disabilities. Since April is National Autism Awareness Month, I hope we can bring about another miracle in support of Jojo and his mother and many others with similar experiences as they continue to navigate these roadblocks.

Visit https://gofund.me/30d05ed1 for more information or to help Jojo and his mother.

Grace Wu is a senior at Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.