2nd Anniversary of Charbel’s Accident

September 27th 2006 will forever remain the most tragic day of our lives, but two years later, we are blessed to be able to say that Charbel has made remarkable progress and continues to improve.

This past year Charbel has gone from a minimally conscious state, unable to do anything other than open his eyes, to being fully aware, speaking and full of life! Throughout the first 14 months after his accident we heard again and again that he would never wake up. We heard that his little movements were simply coincidence and that there was no sighn of functioning brain activity. But we believed in Charbel – we never gave up hope. Deep down, all of us knew that he was fighting to come back, deep down we all knew that if anyone could do it, it would be Charbel – so we waited for a sign.

That sign came in early November when Charbel started deliberately turning his head to familiar sounds and smiling at mom and dad. That month, the changes were so rapid it was unbelievable. From simply smiling to clearly understanding what he was hearing and following directions, Charbel progressed enough to prove to everyone that he was indeed awake and aware of his surroundings. The biggest miracle of all was just after Christmas when Charbel said his first word 15 months! It came out as a whisper, but as the months progressed, he is now talking in full sentences and has a full vocabulary. He still has trouble with his tongue movement but even this has improved in the past month and his pronunciation is better than ever.

In the last couple of weeks Charbel has taken many steps forward on his long road to recovery. He has become more animated and full of life, spend 5 minutes with him and I guarantee he’ll have you laughing and having a great time. He’s constantly making jokes, participating in family conversations, and watching television (especially sports). And that’s in his free time. Charbel’s days are filled with physical and mental exercises to help him recovery all that he lost during the accident.

Physically he continues to improve – especially his core muscles which were incredibly weak before. He can now sit on his own and hold himself up for a few minutes at a time. He can roll over on his own when placed on a mat and can bend and lift his legs.

Charbel’s vision has improved incredibly over the past couple of months. He can clearly make out faces and objects and has begun to be able to see smaller images such as details in pictures and large letters and numbers.

Verbally Charbel has full command of both Arabic and English – in fact he speaks more Arabic than he ever did before in his life. His tongue movements have improved and his speaking is much clearer than before. He is also taking the initiative to engage in conversation more than before and he rarely spends days without talking as he used to only three or four months ago.

Eating continues to pose a challenge for Charbel. He has come a long way from the feeding tube that kept him alive for over a year, but continues to be able to only eat mushy foods. He has trouble with chewing, although this is improving slowly, which makes it difficult for him to eat solid foods. He has made progress in his ability to bite however, so you have to be very careful what you place in front of him – guaranteed he’ll snatch it up and take a bite! His appetite has never changed – he’s always hungry and still loves to eat!

Charbel has made so much progress in the past few months that it’s difficult even to imagine the way he was before. Those memories will always be deeply ingrained in us but we have chosen to focus on the positive and focus on the second chance at life that we have all been given. Charbel’s accident has taught us so much about ourselves, about life, and about the importance of family. His sheer willingness to live has taught us to never take for granted all of the blessings we have in our lives. Whenever I feel like I am having a bad day or something has be down, I just think about Charbel and all of the struggles he has gone through and my difficulties seem small. He is truly an inspiration to us all and he has brought such happiness back into our lives. We are very blessed to have him in our lives.

Two years later, on the anniversary of Charbel’s accident, we are celebrating all that we have been through together and all that he has overcome. We are so thankful for all that we have been given and for those who have helped us through these difficult times.

Today we are celebrating the miracles that allowed us to be a family again.

Oh, No! Summer is over!

Charb was lucky this summer meeting with family!
In July and August, there came Uncles & Aunts from France, Detroit, Vancouver and Calgary! Adults and kids- kids specially!- hung around Charb for long hours, talking, laughing, kissing, arm wrestling, challenging, drawing (reproducing Charb's drawings from before the accident!)...
And Charb had an "awsome" time, "exciting" and "splendid" moments with family.... He was talking more. He was laughing more. He was a lot more alert!
He did not want to leave "home above the store" to go to his apartement across the parking lot!
He did not want to go to sleep eventhough it was way past his bed time! " I am enjoying myself with my family!"
In short, it was the best rehab time Charb had since the accident, since he started to come back awakening last November 2006...

Adventually, Charb went back to his apartement, his Uncles and Aunts and their families went back to their homes all over the world, and a more routinely life took shape!...

But another surprise was waiting to happen! On September the 8th, Norma's Aunt, Juliette, and her two daughters, Bassi and Daad, came to visit from LA. Charb had met them in LA when he was 5yrs old... We do not remember a lot from the age of 5, do we? Neverthless, it was an instant succes!
Charb was all smiles, laughs and talks! Bassi was his favourite... and he managed to get a lot of kisses!
As all watched the daily exercises we do with Charb, encouraging him, exorting him, Charb started to do more than ever done before, giving it a 100% effort! In the 10 days of their visit, we saw improvement in his speecH ( using more and more Arabic words!), in his posture while sitting him up on the edge of the massage table, in keeping his head up longer and straighter, and in his general attitude: more talkative, interactive and happy!... To every one who asked " What are you doing, Charb?" he answered clearly: "Enjoying my family!"

The family was enjoying him too! Long hours daily around him in the apartement, in the store or in the garden , or long walks around ( like the one to Haward dill's home!)... Still even longer hours of prayers and "tahaleel" asking the LORD for a complete miracle!

Charb seemed to profit to a high degree from all that attention, care and love! Please look at some pics I posted and notice the improvement in all areas...
The Terry Fox Run was another exciting moment with friends from KES! (Photo album).
Also I promise another update for the workout and daily exercices involving Ellen and AJ... A bientot!

A late update!

All good things end quickly!
The fun filled days with all the family members came to an abrupt finish! Every one seemed to pack to go back! "Mofasa" left For Calgary on Sunday, Aug 5th. The following day, George, Elisson and kids headed to Vancouver... On Tuesday, Toni & Janette, Elie & Manu and their kids went back to France! On August 8th, we said Goodbye to Amo Zouzou, Jano, Hiba & Abir leaving for Detroit!...

With every one going away a part of us seemed deeply affected, and by the end of the week it was terribly sad! On Saturday, Rita and kids, Samer & Yasmine, waved BYE! Charbel (and all of us!) were now back to the daily quiet routine! The pics posted on the album can tell thousand stories about how Charbel's days were filled with... kids! laughing with him, huging him, playing arm wrestling with him, singing in many languages, many notes, many cords!

But there was another exciting event waiting for Charb!

Thanks to the Mayor, Anna Allen, to the Warden Richard Dauphinee, to the Commity members, Charbel was chosen to be the Guest of Honor at the RCMP Musical Ride! An event that none of us had witnessed before...
When we got to the Windsor arena, the Mayor greeted us and we made our way to a fully filled arena .... Charbel was excited and saluting people! He shook hands with Officer Bouchard, many times in fact! He laughed when he heard his name announced to the crowd... He enjoyed the first show and followed well the dog running and jumping!

Than came the actual and amazing Musical Ride! Charbel was all smiles and his hand went up saluting many many times! He watched with great interest... but toward the end he was getting stiff and a bit tired! All that excitement!

All said it was a great day! It will live long in our memories and sure Charb will always be happy to be reminded of!

Week filled with fun...

Charb has been enjoying all the company and all the craziness around him! Yesterday, we went on our first outing with the entire family. We all took a drive down to Graves Island near Chester and spent the afternoon picnicking near the ocean. It's the first time Charb has been on a trip that far from home. He did so well, he was happy, laughing, and enjoying the sunshine! We all felt so blessed that Charbel was with us and that we could all enjoy each other.

Charb also went to Smiley's park with the kids earlier this week and had a great time watching them running around and playing. When we're at home, we make the most of the backyard by bringing Charb outside and eating our meals there with him.

Tonight, Charbie took a trip down to our friend Mark's new house and spent the evening with Mark and the family lighting fireworks and enjoying a BBQ.

All in all, it's been a busy week full of good times and great memories. Charb has been soaking it all in and lovin all the family around him.

Check out the album for new pictures of Charbel and the family!

New Photos of Fun with the Family :-)

Check the Photo Album for new pics of Charb and family. New videos will be added in a couple days.

Here's a really sweet pic of Charbel and his cousin Samer!

Family Reunion!!!!

We are lucky enough this summer to have a whole bunch of family members coming to visit us from around the world! Many of them have not seen Charbel since before he 'woke up' last summer, and some have not seen him since before the accident. None the less, everyone is amazed and overjoyed by the progress he has made so far. We have aunts, uncles and cousins galore...in all there will be 32 people at our house this summer...for almost a month!

Charbie has been really happy to see everyone. We thought that he'd be overwhelmed by all the noise, but Charbie is taking it in stride, in fact he's enjoying all the attention! He loves arm wrestling and playing thumb wars with the kids and relaxes to the massages of Tante Janet. It's fun and exciting to see everyone together, thankfully, this summer Charb can interact with everyone and share in all the fun and laughter!

Introducing Ellen!

Since Charb will be home full time now, we hired Ellen to come help mom with Charb's daily routine, and to help Charb with his exercises and speech. Ellen has a very interesting background and has a great deal of expereince in the health care industry. She and Charb get along really well - when he doesn't want to do something he let's her know with a big loud 'NO!' And when she talks to much Charbie just tells her to be quiet, it's pretty funny :-)

Ellen super enthusiastic and loud and does well motivating Charbie and explaining to him why he has to do all kinds of vocal and physical exercises. We look forward to working with Ellen and Charbie looks forward to her cheerful voice every day!

Welcome on board Ellen!

Here's a pic of Charb greeting Ellen...