HEROES AS OF TODAY

(Disclaimer: If anything in this post offends you I am not sorry for the simple fact that this blog is based purely on my opinion. Any advice that is somehow taken from this blog is done purely on your own accord as I do not see how anything I have put here is advice unless otherwise stated. Names contained in this blog may have been changed to pseudonyms to protect the innocent, guilty and everybody else.)

(Only one name has been changed in this blog and you should be able to work out which one.)

Two amputees, a godfather, two cartoon/ comic characters and a partridge in a pair tree. (Did you sing 12 Days of Christmas or at least that line as you read it?)

So, those of you who have read my previous entries will have read my last hero list. Well…times change and the people you admire change. In saying that, here is an update on my hero list.

Firstly, before I get into it, you will notice Scarlett is not on this one. She still is and always will be my #1 hero so I didn’t see the point in rehashing what I have said before, plus her ego doesn’t need more fuel for the fire.

Kristoff (from the Disney movie Frozen)
Now, usually I will explain why a particular person is my hero but for this one there is only one tiny word to explain it.

BECAUSE! Simple as that. I don’t care if you think I’m soppy or weird, Kristoff is possibly the best character Disney have ever made (except Donald Duck, NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING, will top Donald Duck).

Batman/ Bruce Wayne
In my personal opinion the whole concept of “Batman” is perfect. I saw a picture once somewhere, actually wait I will find it.

Pretty much sums it up. If I needed help I wouldn’t want a pansy like Superman coming to help me.

They say violence doesn’t solve anything. Those people have not seen a Batman movie or read a Batman comic or played a Batman game (highly recommend.) A billionaire that uses his wealth for good? What’s not to see that as heroic? One could go on and on but at the end of the day if you’re a batman fan you would understand. If you’re not, or you have no idea what I’m talking about, do yourself a favour and look into it. Watch a movie – I suggest the latest attempts, The Dark Knight series. Watch a cartoon, Batman – The Animated Series. Just get into it.

Josh Sunquist (Real Name)
For those of you that have never heard of Josh Sunquist, let me sum him up for you.

Josh lost his left leg at the age of nine to cancer. Since then he has gone on to be a part of the United States Paralympic Ski Team and raced in the IX Paralympic Games. Josh is the only person in history to ever be named to both the US Paralympic Ski Team and the US Amputee Soccer Team.

At the age of sixteen, he gave his first motivational talk and nowadays is one of Americas most recognised motivational speakers and his audiences include major corporations in America and have included The White House.

He is a successful publisher with his memoir book, “Just Don’t Fall: How I Grew Up, Conquered Illness, and Made it Down the Mountain, which was released in 2010 and became a national bestseller.

This man has overcome something that would possibly destroy most 9 year olds. He has gone onto to make a positive out of something that most people see as a negative. His slogan whilst ski racing was “1MT 1MT” which is “1 More Thing, 1 More Time”.

Josh is a hero to me simply because he didn’t give up.

Dusty (not from the MOH video game, although he is pretty awesome)
Okay, so if you read my piece on racism ages and ages ago you would know that DD3 has a South African godfather (the fact he is South African is totally irrelevant here), well, let me introduce you to Dusty.

Readers, Dusty.
Dusty, Readers.

This piece is going to be co-written by Scarlett (she doesn’t know yet) because it not only explains why he is one of my heroes but also why we are proud to call him not only DD3’s godfather but “The Godfather” to all of our children.

We both met Dusty one day before he turned 18. (he’s now 26).

Now, reason 1 of being my hero.

Dusty was born with a club foot (a fairly normal deformity as he put it).
When he was 3 months old he had it operated on and unfortunately they fucked it up (his words) and it led to problem after problem.
When he was 14 he was diagnosed with arthritis in his ankle (of the same foot).
I do remember when I met him he was helping me with a stage show and to be honest you wouldn’t really of known anything was wrong with him.

As time moved on it started to cause him pain and became a very large problem. Between the ages of 3 months and 26 years, he has had a total of 9 operations on his foot.
Number 9 being the most crucial one.

On October 14^th 2013, Dusty had the chop as I now call it, and had his left leg amputated just below the knee.
Why?
Because he wanted to.
Because at the age of 26, he can now start to live.

Dusty DECIDED to have his foot removed.
Yes, you read right, he decided to. Why? Only he will ever truly know and hey, one day I may convince him to write an entry into this blog, but looking in from the outside, he did it because his foot was not a foot. He has never had the proper use of his left foot. It has stopped him from doing a lot of things that some of us take for granted. He drove a modified car, he limped around a lot, it use to kill him when he would be over visiting and couldn’t run around after DD3 , his god daughter who he witnessed being born, when she wanted him to. He did it to start living. Living properly.

So has he achieved this? Well, yes and no.
He doesn’t have the problem of a useless foot on the bottom of his left leg, he doesn’t have the pain. Can he do things that he couldn’t before? NO.

Yes, that’s right, I said no and you’re probably sitting there going ‘what the fuck’. Don’t stress, it’s his own stupid fault and yes, I have been told his wonderful mother has hit him over the back of the head for it. When he was finally given his temporary prosthetic, he was told to take it easy and not use it to much.
Guess what?
He pushed himself and the wound is still not healing fully (5 months later) so he can’t wear the leg for long periods, if at all. But, on a side note, he has learnt patience which he didn’t have a lot of before.

He is still upbeat about it all and is still looking forward to life with his proper prosthetic, he just has to play the waiting game and as his family, we will support him through it all. As much as we can being 8 hours away.

He is my hero because he decided on his own to have his foot cut off, not something I could do and yes, I know that’s not really the same. He made a conscious decision to have a part of the body Odin gave to him removed. (yes, I’ll conceded that Odin can be a prick sometimes). On October 14, his life changed for ever and there is no going back. This is an irreversible operation people, you can’t just decide “nah fuck it, put my foot back on”. But you know what? Whilst his life has changed for ever, I personally see it as a good change for him and I can’t wait for the day he is outside playing comfortably with DD3, as I’m sure he can’t either.

So enough about his foot that no longer exists. The other reason he is my hero and why we are proud to not only know him but have him as a role figure for our children. Scarlett calls him her adult son (she would of been 7 when he was born). I consider him to be the brother I never had.

Dusty is one of the most giving and caring people I know. He is in Adelaide, 8 hours away, laid up, stuck at home (see previous paragraphs) yet he still worries about and checks up on Scarlett whilst she is pregnant, he always asks about the kids and how they are going at school. If he knows I’m having a shit day he will message me during the day and the day after to see how I’m doing and ask if there is anything he can do. This man is going through the frustration of a wound not healing and letting him get on with his life and learning to live with 1 leg, yet he still worries about us.

His parents should be proud of, not only him, but also the job they did of raising him. When we met him he was more mature than most 21 year olds I knew.

During the pregnancy of DD3 and the birth of DD3 he was a rock for both of us. If our children grow up to be even a third of the person Dusty is I will be extremely proud of them.

Scarlett here… :
How do I feel about the man we chose as Godfather to our children?

In awe.
Dusty is incredible – the things he does, the things he thinks, the things he desires. Incredible.
I’m not sure how we got so lucky to have such an inspiring and amazing man come into our lives but I will be forever grateful…

Why The Godfather?
Because I know our kids will have every experience and be loved as much as we could possibly love them if something unfortunate should happen.
In the meantime, they get someone incredibly strong and caring in their lives that they can turn to with anything and I know Dusty will give them 100%. They will learn so much about the world from him and I can’t wait to see how that influence comes to life inside our children.
As a side note – I will never regret the decision of having him at the birth of DD3. He was the most calming and confidence giving support person – I was so scared due to a bad birthing experience but absorbing his presence made giving birth easy and so incredibly calm with so much love in the room.

Logan Harris