Next week it will be one year since our 14-year-old son Ezra was discharged from hospital with a life-changing disability. A rare nerve condition triggered by Hodgkin’s lymphoma has paralysed his arms and legs. He has had to become an advocate for himself, and we have adjusted as a family to a new way of living. Much of the shock we’ve experienced over the past year has had nothing to do with Ezra’s disability, and everything to do with his treatment from the world around him.
Even sitting in a wheelchair, it’s clear Ezra is tall for his age, more man than boy. Which is why it’s weird when complete strangers talk to him like he is four rather than 14. There is a specific kind of wide-eyed, high-pitched, over-friendly thing people do when they see him.
