Hannah
Zingler
October
21, 2014
HS
3300
A Date with Chris
For my physical assignment I chose to go
on a date with a boy named Chris Heitzman. Chris attended Lassiter High School
in Marietta, Ga. He graduated in 2012, with a scholarship to Georgia College
State and University to play baseball. Unfortunately, in July 2012 just a few
weeks before leaving for college, Chris was in a terrible car accident and was
left with severe brain injuries. Chris was a passenger in the car, and sadly,
the driver didn’t make it. Chris was in a coma for several months and no one
knew what was going to happen, when he woke up he was completely changed. He is
unable to talk; he was wheelchair bound for a while but now he can walk, and
eat on is own. It is an incredibly sad story but I have grown very close to
Chris in the past couple years, he amazes me and brings such a great joy to my
life. You will never see Chris with out a huge grin on his face, and despite
his disabilities he is the happiest boy I have ever met. Chris’s favorite food
is pizza, so for our date we went to Mellow Mushroom, Chris was very comfortable in the restaurant
and Mellow Mushroom had great accessibility
for him. He was in his wheelchair on this particular night, because we
attended the Lassiter High School football game after dinner. There were wheelchair
ramps and plenty of space for him to sit comfortably. Anyways, at dinner Chris
got a medium pizza, with everything on it and he ate the whole entire thing,
plus half of mine. He has a huge appetite, which is amazing, and he is able to
feed himself. Chris’s story is very popular in my community so everywhere we
go, people always come up to him and I have never met someone who is such a
people person; he doesn’t have a shy bone in his body. Chris is obsessed with
football, his brother is on the team at Lassiter so he goes every Friday night
to watch the game, and this week I told him I would take him. The crowding at the football game
didn’t bother him at all, Chris wants to hug or shake hands with every person
that walks near him, and he is the king of blowing kisses. The great thing
about Chris is that he has a lot of control,
he knows when enough is enough and he does not cross any boundaries. When we
got to the game we got to sit on the field so we were up close to the action.
Chris was wearing a football jersey and shaking every players hand when they
walked by, he really is such an inspiration to everyone. Sociality comes extremely easy to Chris, usually when people
have severe brain damage that is not the case; he is a blessed guy and has the
most amazing support system possible. Whenever Chris is doing something he is
completely involved in the activity
and can focus, but only for short periods of time, it’s almost like he gets
bored when he is not doing anything, or doing the same thing for too long.
Chris is a prime example of legibility,
at the football game he was at ease when conversing with his graduating class,
family friends, and the football coaches, he has completely been able to find
his way since the accident, and lives in such a positive element. One of the
key elements that Chris does not express is privacy; he doesn’t like to be alone and loves being the
center of attention. I was honored to be able to take him to dinner and the
football game. I was nervous at first but the second the night begun he made me
feel so comfortable without even speaking. I admire him, he has taught me a lot
and it was more of a privilege for me to take him out then it was for him to be
taken out. Even with his disability he has had such an impact on my life, and
everyone else’s around him.
Here is a video about Chris's story and milestones, it will bring a smile to your face and a happy tear to your eye!
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