One legged inspiration
"One Legged Inspiration" © Owen Swain
Dexter Benjamin. "ìf I worry about my leg it wouldn`t grow back, you know, so why worry about it? You know? Life is better than worrin' about a leg." Dexter is a one legged bike messenger in NYC. Not one legged as in one good leg and prosthetic but as in one leg, period.
Dexter lost a leg on the job over twenty years ago because he chose to save a child's life putting his own life at risk. The kid was chasing a ball into the street when Dexter put himself between the kid and an oncoming truck. It saved the kid's life. It cost Dexter one leg. But not his spirit.
When came to the States from his home in Trinidad he ended up pan handling and begging. Eventually he was one of the Apple's thousands of homeless. He says a woman took him in for a time and gave him money. He took the money and bought a bike and became a bike messenger.
After the accident he applied to his insurance company for something called a C-leg. It's not your standard heavier than an anchor prosthetic but more along the line of what a special Olympian might have. His claim stated the C-leg was what he needed in order to continue his employment. The company denied his claim stating it "was a luxury." That would have been enough to stop the majority of people but not Dexter.
He walked into a bike messenger dispatch and said he was ready to work. "What are you going to do, walk?" "No, I'm gonna ride my bike."
He rode without the standard prosthetic because of it's weight and lack of flexibility. Yet, he proved himself as a bike messenger. Today he is known as one of the city's finest. In fact, he owns his own company and has a number of employees. And he still rides, just as he has for nearly twenty years, with one leg and a crutch rigged to the bike for when he has to walk.
So, yeh, I have this minor health set back. Yeh, our family was recently the victim of identity fraud through no fault of our own. And, I am probably no there's no probably about it, I am going to look for work outside of my home studio as soon as I can get beyond the surgery. But I have two legs and good health other than this one issue. But if I had it worse I pray I would have the kind of attitude toward life that Dexter Benjamin has.
Here he is in his own words:
I feel like, you know, riddin' no matter what stress I have or whatever, riddin' just like, keep it free, you know, I'm free away from it.
"If I worry about my leg it wouldn`t grow back, you know, so why worry about it? You know? Life is better than worrin' about a leg."
::thrive!
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P.S. You can find Dexter's story on Y--tube. There are at least two videos one of which was the inspiration for my drawing.
P.P.S. The comments are back, up to 50 before you have to click Next so, you know, knock yourselves out
