Paralyzed youth needs help with therapy

On February 19th, nineteen year old Luke Smith went out to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye to clean up the island’s beach. As he was searching for trash he came upon a small gun lodged in the roots of the mangroves. Unwisely he picked up the weapon and began to play with it. It went off and Smith was hit in the chest. Today the young man remains paralyzed from the waist down. He desperately needs therapy to improve his ability to walk.

The bullet, which entered Luke Smith’s chest, damaged the young man’s spinal chord. Smith remains in a wheelchair and confined to his family’s house.

Luke Smith, Paraplegic

“Well it makes me feel helpless. I can’t move. I have to wait for my brother to come and take me out of the bed and so on.”

Smith, who is determined to walk again, has been making regular trips to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for treatment. According to Glender Wagner, Smith’s mother, recently her son has been making some progress but the family has been told that Smith would need to go abroad to receive further physiotherapy that is needed for his recovery.

Glender Wagner, Mother

“I exercise him. I exercise him right up to his body and I let him turn; move him as how the doctor told me and then I exercise his foot. Then sometimes when I exercise his foot, sometimes his foot comes stiff and drags back. I tell him that that is a good sign because the foot wants to move everyday and then maybe he may walk.”

Wagner says there is no way the family can afford to take Luke out of the country and is appealing for financial assistance from members of the community.

If you would like to help with a contribution towards Luke Smith’s therapy, you can reach the Smith family at 3242 St. Jude Street in the Lake Independence area.