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Paralyzed woman hopes her story will inspire others
She plans to run the New York City Marathon one day — she just needs to walk first.
Though Kelly Tyler has been confined to a wheelchair nearly 14 years ago, she refuses to stay there forever. Together with her doting family, Tyler fights daily to spread hope and encouragement to anyone who needs it.
She recently shared her story — every high and every low — in her first book, “Walk it Out.”
“I always knew I would write a book, but I didn’t know what it was going to be about,” she said. “I just knew when it was time to start writing.”
Tyler lived in Wichita Falls until she turned 18 when she left to attend Baylor University.
She met and married her husband, Ryan, during her sophomore year; their first child followed soon after. One more child and a literature degree later and her life was running smoothly, going according to plan.
A few years later, her plans changed.
Tyler wasn’t feeling well in November 1995 and made an appointment with the doctor. Despite her resistance, he encouraged her to accept a tetanus booster. After a lengthy argument, she relented and took the shot.
Ten short days later, she was paralyzed from the neck down.
“It was definitely the shot that set everything off,” Tyler said. “That is the only thing they could come up with.”
Tyler was thrown by the unexpected loss. She had a husband and two young children at home to take care of.
Doctors told her any recovery should take place within the first year; nearly a decade later her health was the same. She was able to move her right arm and hand, but everything else was frozen in place.
“It has changed my life in basically every way,” she said. “Parenting has been difficult. I have to ration my energy. We just kind of help each other.”
Tyler never gave up hope she would walk again. Her faith in God and love for her family kept her going day to day. She and her husband were able to have a third child. She kept him strapped to her chest as a baby, caring for him any way she could.
“It really got interesting when we had a baby,” she said. “I have a very incredible husband, who is very protective. There is just this rock of love.”
After about 10 years, she became able to move her left arm and hand.
“They were completely paralyzed,” she said. “I have a lot more use of my trunk, too, where before I had none. They said that I would not get anything back after the first year. Eventually, I did anyway.”
She was finally able to drive again, to be a little more active. She used the renewed strength to write her first book.
“I thought it was going to give people hope,” she said. “There is life after the whatever. As long as there is life, it needs to be good.”
Since it’s release in December, Tyler has had multiple book signings and speaking engagements near her North Carolina home to as far away as the Ukraine — always encouraging others to give.
“There is no going back,” she said. “Always find a way to give to others. When you’re giving, you’re not thinking about your own situation.”
In the past few years, Tyler has been looking for her own ways to give back. On a trip with her husband to Jamaica, she visited The Blossom Garden Children’s Home in Montego Bay. She asked the staff what they needed.
“The babies’ diapers were only changed once every other day,” she said. “They needed more diapers.”
After purchasing several herself, she took the cause to her husband’s boss at a business dinner that night.
“We told him what we did,” she said. “He gave a speech and asked that if anyone else wanted to give to the orphanage, there would be baskets at the door.”
About $1,700 was raised that night, and the bank matched every penny.
“That’s how life happens,” she said. “Just when you least expect it. Now, we’re just trying to do whatever we can.”
Tyler and her husband founded The Neighborhood Connection, a nonprofit organization that helps orphans.
She stands by her advice: Helping others is the best way to help yourself. As she continues to fight for a complete recovery, Tyler remembers her purpose — to comfort others in similar situations.
“I just always want to encourage people,” she said. “I think anything is possible.”
For more information on Tyler’s story, visit her Web site at www.livingthecall.com.
I just wanted to give a few updates. I haven’t been in therapy for a while so there are no updates on that front. Between being a mom and home schooling there is just no time. I’ve been really sick for about 2 months with just some basic complications from the paralysis, but that is finally getting better.
On the book front, things are moving on at a publisher’s pace, which is slow but steady. The book is officially in publication now and going through its first round of editing. The editing phase will be finished on or before May 15, and then the cover and audio book will be created. I’m hoping the book will be ready before the summer ends. I’ll keep you posted. My new website is almost complete! It’s really the most fun part because it’s makes it even easier to keep in touch with everyone.
About The Neighborhood…well, it is still operating and helping the children in Jamaica. The website for The Neighborhood is in the works, but getting it officially established is a bit more complicated than I thought it would be. So that part is waiting until I can get some help untangling the proverbial red tape. I did meet someone on Sunday who heard the story and is praying about adopting one of the babies from Blossom Garden. That would be thrilling! I’ll keep you posted on any developments.
That’s all for now. I’ve been busy and haven’t written as much as I’d like, but there are some things rumbling in my spirit, so I will get them down eventually.
We are still amazed and in awe of how God moved on behalf of the children at Blossom Garden Children’s Home in Montego Bay, Jamaica. His heart is so toward the children, and a part of that is in our hearts too, now. A day doesn’t go by without thinking of them. I am at peace knowing that they have diapers and formula and that more is on the way. In the photos you can see us with little Christopher, and with Mrs. Genus Brown, the director of the home. The other pictures are at Mega Mart where we bought the diapers and other things for the children.
We are still working to get everything set up for The Neighborhood, the non-profit we set up to connect individuals and corporations with orphanages like Blossom Garden. God has already started to open doors to reach the people who can help, and we have relationships with other orphanges that will benefit from future funds that come in. We will keep you posted on future developments.
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
30 Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34 and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35And on the morrow he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee.
36Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers?
37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
We had such an overwhelming response for the Jamaican orphans that it became necessary to set up a non-profit organization. I was praying for a name for it and the Lord reminded me of the story of The Good Samaritan. Anyone that God puts in our path to minister to is our neighbor, so I called the new organization The Neighborhood.
The main focus of The Neighborhood is to link corporations with orphanages. Our friend Melissa Rutty, who is building the website for my book, has volunteered to create a site for The Neighborhood free of charge! We will post the new website as soon as it is avaiable.
Please pray for this new ministry. Pray that God will link us with the orphanges that He wants us involved in and that He will continue to give us favor with corporations that are looking for ways to give back. This is definitely one of those “suddenlies” that I was talking about!
Here is a video of the Blossom Garden Children’s Home. It was taken in December and shows some of the children who live there currently.
2 Peter 3:8
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
I am in awe of our God! What He did in one day while we were in Jamaica, I couldn’t have accomplished in a thousand days on my own. That is what makes Him God. He is able to do anything! I think I’ll be writing about this trip to Jamaica for a long time, but for now I have to give you the overview of what He did on Sunday.
God has put the care of orphans on my heart for years, and I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity to step out. So, when I learned that Ryan won this trip to Jamaica I searched the Internet for orphanages in the Montego Bay area and found that Blossom Garden children’s home is just minutes from the resort we would be staying in.
When we realized that it would cost $100.00 per hour to get a car to take us, we weren’t so sure we would be going. Then God providentially connected us to a godly man, Ron Lawrence. He was our driver to dinner on Friday night. We talked to him, and he offered to drive us free of charge (we would only have to pay for the use of the car)! So for $150.00 we could use the car all day! We were thrilled!
To make it even better, Ron picked us up and took us to his church. It was incredible! These people had enormous faith and it was such a blessing to be able to worship with them. They allowed us to give our testimony as well, so by the time we left, we had many new friends!
Next we went to Blossom Garden. It is a small, one story building nestled in the hills above Montego Bay. Inside it was brightly painted, though poorly lit. The first room we saw had ten cribs and eleven sleeping newborns. One woke up, so we asked to hold him. His name is Christopher, and he has got to be one of the happiest newborns I’ve ever seen! As soon as he saw us he broke out into an enormous smile! I’m beginning to think Jamaicans have a happy gene! Christopher was quite congested and we were told that he suffers from asthma, but it has not affected this baby’s joy at all!!
Next we went to the toddlers. I think there were twenty-two and most of them were sleeping. Most of them are quite small, since they have very little protein (if any) in their diet. There was one unusually big baby. We were told that he had been found two days after his birth under a bush, and so they call him Moses. Several of the children in that room were paralyzed. We prayed for as many as we could reach before we went onto the porch.
There were three baby girls playing on rocking toys and an older autistic boy. I was told to be careful because he can be rough, and has been known to bite. He came to me and put his head in my lap. He stayed there as I stroked his head, talking to him and praying over him. I hated to leave him, but we had to move on.
We went out to the play yard. The one thing Ryan kept saying was that he felt so much better knowing the children were getting lots of sunshine and good air. They all wanted to be held and talked to. We had a good time just loving on them before we went to see the oldest children, up to age seven. They were all watching a video in their room. They all wanted to be held, too, and seemed especially excited to have a man to play with.
We were told that the greatest need at Blossom Garden is for diapers, but it wasn’t until well into the visit that I really understood how great the need is. The babies do not have enough diapers to get changed every day. They get one diaper about every other day. They also have need of formula and food.
I left determined that these babies would have diapers. I was getting too tired to stay out any longer, so we bought 300 diapers and asked Ron to deliver them. Later that night, there was an awards dinner that we attended at the hotel. During the cocktail hour, the CEO of Royal Bank of Canada invited Ryan and myself to join him at his table for dinner. Ryan sat next to the CEO’s wife, and she asked what we done that afternoon. So, he told her and she told her husband. He then asked me to tell the table about it, and he promised that he would help the orphans. Meanwhile a man from the next table talked to a lady I told about the babies and he came over and promised to help.
Then Scott, the CEO, stood up and welcomed everyone and then proceeded to tell about our trip to the orphanage. He said that there would be baskets at the doors for anyone who wanted to give! Suddenly, a man stood up and said, “Scott, can’t the bank match whatever is given?” Scott agreed!
The next morning we left with our driver, Ron, and seventeen hundred dollars in cash to go shopping for diapers! More money was still coming in, and the bank hadn’t even matched it yet! We went to a big store that was a little like a Sam’s, and we bought tons and tons of diapers, four cases of formula, bibs, washcloths, disposable wipes, more diapers, shirts, onesies, notebooks for school, play-dough, jump ropes, more diapers, balls, balloons, baby bottles, ointment, baby wash, and more and more diapers!
We were very short on time, but managed to get everything and deliver it to Blossom Garden, hug the children, get some photos (coming soon) and make it to the airport by 11:00 a.m.! Praise God and thanks to the big hearted people at RBC we accomplished what would have been impossible for us to do on our own!
I am writing you from the beautiful island of Jamaica. It is home to what has to be the happiest people on Earth! Where else in the world do you go through customs and the walls are painted pink, green, yellow and blue?
The most common phrase here is, “No problem, mon.” The thing is, they really mean it! There just isn’t much that gets these people upset. And did I mention that it is beautiful?
Many of you know we are here as the guests of RBC Bank, but that I was praying for time and opprtunity to visit an orphanage. God always answers bigger than we ask! The bank hired a driver for Ryan and I since it is difficult to get me on a bus. Well, wouldn’t you know the driver is an awesome brother in the Lord, and not only offered to drive us to the orphanage on a Sunday, but also wants us to speak at his church and go pray for the children at the hospital where his wife works! Please pray with us tomorrow as we join God on this adventure!
We just got back from rafting down a river, but the best part was praying there and back with our driver! Isn’t God just too cool?
Well, I’m off to the beach now, but will let you know as soon as possible what God does tomorrow!
