[Carole Franklin]

Hello Everybody:

I am posting to ask for help for my former student Dominic Park, aged 27. Dominic is from Korea and his English is not so great. He was my student in an English as a second language class in Spring 2008. On July 4th he was shot in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Houston, TX.

He is paraplegic. I am not sure which vertebra was destroyed, but he cannot use his legs, and one of his arms doesn’t work properly. He cannot sit up unaided. He can breathe on his own and can eat with his good hand. More details that that I don’t really know.

Dominic is depressed and has nothing to look forward to. He thought that he was going to be able to walk again, and people encouraged him to be hopeful (miracles can happen etc.) even though it was pretty clear that it was not really a possibility.

Now he is living in an apartment in the medical centre with his father and brother. The life of his whole family has been disturbed because of this. His brother was about to go to school in Korea but has had to come here instead. Immigration lawyers have been appointed to try and get Dominic permission to stay in the USA. In Korea there are no facilities for physically challenged people—there Dominic’s life really would be over.

There has been no court case over the shooting because the perpetrators were not caught, so money is tight and he is not getting any physiotherapy any more.

Dominic hardly ever goes out, although I believe he has gone to the Korean church occasionally on Sundays. Some of his former teachers visit him regularly, but none of his old school friends any more, either because they have moved away or because he has pushed them away. He hates being in the wheelchair. I think partly because he can't sit up straight and his butt hurts, but mostly because – as he said himself – he doesn't want anyone seeing him in the chair.

I would suggest that Dominic join this forum, but I doubt if I could persuade him at this point. He is not very open to suggestions right now because of his depression. Plus his English skills might limit what he could say or understand.

So my question is, what can we do to help him? My feeling is that he needs to meet other young people who are in the same situation as he is and who have learned how to cope, and even better, to enjoy life. He feels his life is over. He needs to hear from someone in a wheelchair that this is not true, that there are things he can do. Are there any organizations in Houston that we could get in touch with that could put him in touch with people like him?

What would you suggest?

Thanks a lot,
Carole

[Kwag_Myers]

Carole Franklin, on Oct 14 2009, 05:00 PM, said:

I would suggest that Dominic join this forum, but I doubt if I could persuade him at this point. He is not very open to suggestions right now because of his depression. Plus his English skills might limit what he could say or understand.

That's okay, half the Americans in here can't spell either.

I've had to deal with depression somewhat myself and my advice is to be assertive. Set the young man in front of a pc and log on. I recommend this thread to start with. Then let him look over the different sections - that may peak his interest. Keep in touch and let us know how it goes.