Durban - Young Eston mother and pre-school teacher Rebecca Hitch has a special bond with the characters that are brought colourfully to life in her book for young readers called Fumbling Feet. While the comic book characters and creatures are all imaginary, the inspiration is from true life experience.
Hitch’s son, Elijah, 6, has a rare form of muscular dystrophy known as central core myopathy. Although the condition is not life threatening it has caused weakness to his lower limbs, and throughout his body. While he is not yet in a wheelchair, the family are looking for one for him to use next year when he starts formal school.
Currently, explained Hitch, Elijah manages to get around by crawling, or being carried.
“He is a remarkable little boy,” she said, “inquisitive about everything and keen to learn. But as you can imagine there are times when he gets very frustrated that he cannot use his legs and just can’t understand why he isn’t like other children.”
It was this sense of loss that prompted Hitch to try and develop awareness and empathy for children like Elijah, who have to cope with disabilities while living in a normal society.
“What I soon realised,” she said, “was that there was little literature that focused on handicapped children. It was almost as though they were a forgotten part of our society.”
Her dream and passion, then, is to right this wrong and create reading material that handicapped children can identify with. First off the press is Fumbling Feet, which brings to life the adventures of a little boy who is unable to use his feet and meets a host of different creatures, experiencing fun and excitement – and a few home truths – as he ventures through life.
“When I started to write the book I had no idea if my story plan was going to work. Elijah loved it and always wanted me to read it before he went to sleep, but it was another thing taking the next step,” she explained.
Hitch admitted that when she presented the idea to a South African publisher she fully expected to receive a rejection letter.
“But they accepted it, together with illustrations by a local artist, Claire Norden. For Elijah, for me, and for everyone who has supported the idea, it has been truly amazing. I am already thinking of the next one in the series.”
Caring and parenting children with disabilities is never easy, as Hitch will confirm.
Children want to know why they are different and sometimes it is not easy to find the right answers.
There is an emotional minefield that comes with having a disability; so many aspects that most people don’t have to think about – like finding a school that will take a child in a wheelchair, looking for activities to suit handicapped children, and society’s acceptance of people with disabilities.
These are very personal issues for Hitch, who also suffers from a mild form of central core myopathy, which affects her mobility, but to a lesser extent than Elijah’s.
“There was no history of muscular dystrophy in our family, so it has been quite difficult to understand the medical issues surrounding the condition.”
Hitch is hoping that her books will help to generate increased understanding and awareness of childhood disability, not only her own and Elijah’s, but children with other handicaps, too.
“It has made me realise not only how little fiction there is that deals with what disabled children go through, but how much courage and willpower it takes to go through life, and compete against able-bodied children.
“I’m really hoping that, should this book succeed, I can work on a series of books dedicated to these children, each one of which will look at a different disability or problem, and hopefully allow the character to overcome them.
“The next story is already brewing in my head… I just have to put it to paper.”
Sunday Tribune