The Wheelchair

Susan Bergeman is a runner, but not an ordinary runner.

Instead, when she runs, she pushes her brother in a wheelchair.

Bergeman’s brother, Jeffery, suffered a cardiac arrest as a 22-month-old infant. The episode left him with brain damage and cerebral palsy.

Susan wanted to keep him involved. She knew Jeffrey loved to watch the runners compete. So, as a runner, Susan decided to get her brother in a race. She pushes his wheelchair.

Sometimes it is difficult. Susan says when the hills come, she will “push away the pain and focus on him enjoying it.”

Few will push wheelchairs while running a cross-country race. But that should not stop us from doing something comparable, but on a different scale.

Paul counseled,

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

All of us have disabilities when we need someone to help. Look around, because someone has a burden that requires a caring companion to shoulder with them.

It may not be a wheelchair, but others need it just as Jeffrey needed his sister.

Whose burden can you help carry?