Sarahs Dream

There is a gentle soul in this world called Sarah. She has a very rare condition called mitochondrial disease. She loves horses. She loves art. She loves nature and all its creatures. There is no cure for mitochondrial disease. It’s progressive in only one direction. Yet she accepts this with the calm that only a child could possess. She lives every moment in the moment. She embraces the life she has with a happy heart and a smile on her face. She is determined to be an old lady and have her own place with many rescued horses. This is a dream that keeps her going. She sees beauty in everything, is ever positive, and never complains. She is a budda child.

Nearly every cell in our bodies contains tiny organelles called mitochondria, the power houses of the cells. They are responsible for creating the energy that is necessary in the body to sustain life and support growth. Mitochondrial failure causes cell injury that leads to cell death. Mitochondrial disease causes debilitating physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities with symptoms including poor growth, loss of muscle coordination, muscle weakness and pain, seizures, visual problems, hearing problems, learning disabilities, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory disorders, neurological problems, autonomic dysfunction, dementia and organ failure. Sarah experiences almost continual pain, sometimes even breathing is painful.

At the age of 2 Sarah was taken to Riding for the Disabled (RDA) because she had a love of horses. The act of sitting on a horse is of enormous benefit in developing balance and strengthening core muscles. But the biggest plus was that when sitting on a horse she felt like she had a strong body, she was powerful on a horse, they took her places she couldn’t go on her own. Sarah had a natural affinity with the horses as they tuned into her gentle energy levels and felt safe in her presence. She attended RDA for many years and then three years ago, at the age of 14, her lifelong dream of having her own horse became a reality. And into her life came Borax, affectionately known as B.

Borax was not the type of horse you’d expect a disabled child to have. He was a young, fit, healthy, chestnut, thoroughbred gelding. To anyone looking on this would be a totally unsuitable match. But Borax also had a gentle soul. He had difficulties with humans, and their big energy, they scared him, but not Sarah. With Sarah he felt safe. They called in a riding instructor, moved him into a bitless bridle and had years of wonderful riding. Then occasionally when Sarah went to mount there was too much pain and she couldn’t do it. These times increased in number and then she was no longer able to hold the reins and direct him herself due to lack of strength and energy and the pain involved. At that point this massive powerful thoroughbred accepted his new job of being a led pony. Then that stage too passed until it became extremely rare for Sarah to be able to mount due to pain. In true Sarah style she once again accepted this new stage in her life. She now visits him where he’s agisted every day with her mum. They feed him and spend time in the paddock with him. If there’s a scary thing like a tractor or aeroplane flying overhead, Borax will run around frantically getting in between Sarah and the object trying to protect her.  This massive horse has softness and a connection with Sarah that would warm anyone’s heart. Sometimes he comes to Sarah and lies down on the ground beside her.    

Yesterday Sarah turned 17. Every birthday is so special, just as she is. I joined her and her mum at the paddock to celebrate her birthday with her horse. Borax gave Sarah a horse ball to play with him. He is a very playful horse. There’s a shallow dam in his paddock where he splashes and rolls around. One time when there were flood rains a large gully filled up with water in his paddock. When Sarah and her mum came to see him there he was swimming laps up and down the gulley like it was a swimming pool. It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday. We sat in the sun on boxes and crates and talked while B munched his breakfast and the birds sang and the stories unfolded.

A while ago Sarah’s mum bought a van and fitted it out to be wheelchair accessible, using up the last of her money. At the moment Sarah can still walk a short distance on some days, but this will not last and in order to be able to go anywhere at all she will need to use the wheelchair. Being able to put the wheelchair inside the van is essential. But then the problems began. They were finally told by a mechanic that the van was a dud. Not able to be driven and not able to be sold. There’s no more money left. So now they borrow a car every single day so they can go to Borax. Sarah tries to go but can’t make it every day. The dedication to caring for her horse is truly amazing. But it’s more than that, she needs to see him, he’s an affirmation that life is good, that life is worth living. He waits for her to arrive every day and sometimes he waits a long time.

So these words are a call. I am that riding instructor and I am calling out to whoever can hear. We need to help this girl, this horse, this family. I am calling all angels and will continue to call until we can raise enough money to buy a new van that is wheelchair accessible. If you are reading this, please give, a little or a lot, it all matters. Thank you.