An act of kindness

Josh had been an active young man, he had been keen on outdoor pursuits and sport. But now, since his accident, he was confined to a wheelchair. Another car had driven straight into him. His car had flipped crushing his lower leg and damaging his nervous system.

Confined to a wheelchair, he became morose and petulant, mistreated his wife, Cath, and snarled at her. She begged him to get a prosthetic leg. He refused. She bore his moodiness stoically, but it gradually got worse. She refused to go out anywhere with him, even when he asked her to. She wanted to get away from him. She couldn’t stand to be near him.

‘I’ll never go out with you anywhere again,’ she snapped. ‘It’s over.’

In the end, she left him to live with her sister in Sydney.

Josh was devastated and wouldn’t talk to anyone. One day drove his wheelchair to the local McDonalds. A small boy with a football hailed him on the footpath.

‘I know who you are,’ said the boy.

‘No you don’t,’ snapped Josh.

‘I’ve seen your picture.’

‘No, you haven’t.’

‘You played for Hawthorn in the AFL. Dad follows Hawthorn. He has photos and paper cuttings. He showed me. You’re the full forward who scored six goals in the 2004 premiership, and you scored four goals in the 2005 premiership.’

‘I can’t remember,’ muttered Josh sulkily. ‘I’m going to McDonalds.’

‘Can I come?’

‘No.’

Josh drove his wheelchair along the footpath, then stopped and turned around. The boy was still standing there staring at him.

Josh beckoned the boy to join him.

Sitting in McDonald's, the boy was full of questions. What was it like to score goals to the roar of the crowd? What had happened to his leg?

At first, Josh didn’t speak much but gradually found himself loosening up. He began to tell the boy about winning the Premierships.

 ‘I play for the Karini Hawks,’ said the boy excitedly ‘We have a social next Saturday night. Come and give a talk, tell the other boys what you told me.’

‘No, I can’t.’

 ‘Just a brief talk.’

‘No.’

Josh saw the disappointment on the boy’s face. His shoulders sagged.

 ‘OK, a short talk.’

Josh began visiting the ground and watching the boys play. They loved having their idol watch them. Josh became half-time orange man. It hurt to slice all the oranges, the accident had affected the nerves in his hand, but he took his time. At the game, he drove his wheelchair to the boundary and gave the boys advice.

One day, Cath rang to see how he was. Josh said he wanted to get a prosthetic leg so he could be more active on the boundary and coach the kids.

Cath said she would visit him temporarily to help him learn to use his leg. She saw him struggle to cut the oranges and offered to help. He told her about the boys and how he is assisting in coaching them.

One morning, he was off to the game.

‘I don’t want to be late,’ he called. ‘Are you interested?’

Cath watched him hobble to the front door with the container of sliced oranges under his arm.

‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘I’ll come with you.’