CWO blog challenge

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Art Bookbindery, "Empowering Writers to Self Publish."
The story of the fighterThe seventeen year old new mom lay in disbelief as the doctors began telling her the news that she couldn’t accept. The odds were against her baby boy and he would most likely not make it through the night. If he does survive he’ll never be normal, too much had gone wrong. He had a broken clavicle and both lungs were collapsed. Their small town was barely equipped for these infants and they lost more than they saved. She reflected back to the preeclampsia scare, how long the labor had been, and then how horrible it had been to watch as the doctor forcefully delivered her baby with the horrible forceps. That was supposed to have been the hard part and now she wasn’t sure that she would be able to bring him home. She watched her husband hit his knees and beg God not to take him. She kept hearing Matthew 16:18 ….and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. She knew what she would name him. She knew that he would survive. She believed that he would come home with her. Of course the gates of hell would not overcome her Rock. She trusted God and she began to only focus on that scripture. Her thoughts were interrupted by a glimpse of hope, a nurse came to tell her that they were working on him but he was fighting mad. The nurse told her that survival is always 90% spirit and that baby had spirit.The baby did defeat the odds and got to come home. Though he had recovered physically he rarely spoke in front of others. His speech was hard to understand and he was such a perfectionist that he would rather not speak than chance it not sounding right to everyone else. When the time came to start school, they were again forced to hear more bad news. He had trouble learning and did not have the physical skills of a child his age. He couldn’t even jump a rope. The school informed his parents that he would need to be in resource classes. That would be his only option and it would be a miracle if he finished high school. Now having gone through all that they had with this little boy both parents refused to accept this fate. He had survived against all odds, he was a fighter. They believed that if people treated him like an idiot he would become one. So instead they moved and his mom began to play games with him at home to help him learn. All the while, they never told him that he was any different.That young man did finish high school and even received a football scholarship. Now it would be nice if this story ended here with his graduation and tons of success, but in the first two weeks of practices he injured his neck. They told him that he would never play football again. He could not accept this, of course. So the young man transferred to a less expensive college and began his own rehab on his neck. After all, he was a fighter. Of course, his neck healed and he was invited to play division three football and finish his degree. He did get his bachelors degree and even went on to get his masters. He is now an outstanding teacher and coach.So the next time someone tells you that you can’t or you won’t make it just remember the story of the fighter and know that spirit is always 90%.