Against All Odds

     One day in the fall a year ago Jody’s family’s house burned down. No one was home at the time. While virtually everything else was lost in the fire, Jody’s treasured Braille Bible and his NCBC camp trophies were rescued by the firemen. 

     Jody was born blind. He weighed in at just 1 pound 15 ounces.  “I could fit in my mother’s shirt pocket,” he told us.  “The doctors gave me a 50 percent chance of surviving.”

      He made it though.  And when he turned 16, he attended one of our National Camps for Blind Children for the first time.

      “I was a little scared and a lot excited,” he said.  “I was used to being away from home because I lived at the Arkansas School for the Blind most of the year.  I knew there would be water activities, but I was surprised by very good food and the many other activities available.”

      At NCBC, Jody excels in sports.  His slender and muscular build was made for water skiing. “I have no fear. I get out and try it all – anything with speed,” he declared.  And this year when he came back to camp he was determined to try wake boarding for the first time.  If you are wake boarding, both of your feet are on one wide board.  You stand sideways with a rope attached to the board.  Then the ski boat pulls you up.

      “Jody’s going to try wake boarding,” spread the news.  You could feel the anticipation among campers and staff alike!

      The Ouachita Lake was calm.  The instructor explained the new technique and helped position Jody in the water.  Then Jason, the boat driver, hit the throttle.  We held our breath as if that would help . . . and suddenly Jody was up!  Up and going.  Up on his very first try.

      Back at the dock in his southern drawl he asked, “Did you get my picture?”  Yes, we had taken dozens of pictures.  The accomplishment and pleasure meant so very much to him. 

     Jody also has a knack with mechanical things.  When motorcycle club volunteers visited camp this summer, a biker allowed him to rev up his bike.  Then the two discussed something about rocker arms and motor tune-ups. He’s learned a lot from his dad, a blue-collar mechanic.

      “I’m hoping for a job. You know, many don’t believe the blind can do anything,” Jody told us. If you had been at camp, you would have seen for yourself how the NCBC experience challenges and affirms young people like Jody.