Chad Michael O'Connell's Obituary
O’CONNELL, CHAD MICHAEL Born October 15, 1973 in Rochester, New York and passed away October 19, 2009 in Frisco, Texas. Chad is survived by his mother and father, Robert F. and Elaine O’Connell of Plano, TX; sister, Molly O’Connell of Las Vegas, NV; maternal grandmother, Vera Wothe of CA; paternal grandparents, Robert and Ruth O’Connell of Liverpool, NY; as well as numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (www.mda.org). In Memory of Chad M. O’Connell October 15, 1973 – October 19, 2009 Our son, our first born, was dedicated to the Lord as a young child. When the pastor laid his hands on him to pray he startled a bit and then prophesied, “This child is called to be a man of God.” Those words pierced my soul though I did not fully understand how important these words would become. When he was seven, the doctors diagnosed our son with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy handing him a death sentence, “This is a childhood disease,” the doctor said, “most boys do not live past their early twenties.” Our world was turned upside down. We reached out to our Christian family and we prayed, we anointed him with oil, we fasted, we believed in our God of miracles. We held on to our faith and waited in anxious anticipation for the day he would miraculously rise and be healed. The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months and the months into years. The child had the spirit of a lion. He was confident, strong-willed determined to rule his world. He challenged all others for the dominant role. His spirit was strong but his body was weak. As the disease progressed, his muscles weakened. He had to wear protective knee pads to protect his knees from the continuous falls and braces to strengthen his legs. Eventually he was confined to a wheelchair. We constantly lived with the diagnosis “death by early twenties,” but then we remembered those piercing words “He is called to be a MAN of God.” Not a BOY of God, but a MAN of God. Those words gave us hope. We saw things as “a blurred image in a mirror.” Through the years, the disease progressed. There were surgeries – to release contracted tendons in the ankles, knees and hips. The disease waged war on his body… more surgery to put rods the full length of his spine to correct the scoliosis. The doctors noted that this boy was stronger than most, his lung capacity was amazing compared to other patients his age. Some doctors even questioned the diagnosis. Perhaps it was a milder form of the disease, but the muscle biopsy confirmed the original diagnosis. He led the way for others. There were barriers at school, there were curbs and stairs and no way for him to get into or out of the building. Ramps were put in place to make it accessible. Elevators were installed to get from one floor to the next. When his AP government class planned a bus trip to Washington, D.C, it never occurred to the faculty that the boy in the wheelchair would want to go along – there was no lift on the bus for wheelchairs. He found a way to go and raised awareness for future generations. He went off to college 400 miles from home – with his hospital bed, Hoyer lift, and shower chair in tow. He lived on campus in a dorm with a floor designed for students with physical disabilities and aides to assist his physical needs. During the first few weeks of his first semester while being transferred from bed to his wheelchair, his legs buckled underneath him breaking his leg. He had to withdraw from school for that semester. But the boy with the spirit of a lion returned… in the dead of winter with a foot of snow on the ground as the cold winds blew across the great lake. He led the way and others followed. He graduated from college. The boy had become a man… the disease raged on. As his lungs weakened, he needed a breathing machine to help him breath at night. His heart weakened and he needed a pace maker. But through it all, the doctors marveled. This was new territory. There was little history of patients this old with this disease. We have been told that his case is studied at medical conventions because of his age… he is 36 years old. His spirit roared but his heart was tender for the Lord. He gave his heart to the Lord and studied his Bible cover to cover. He had become a man of God. I watch in awe as other parents of young boys who have been given this same death sentence are drawn to him. They come to him with such excitement. He comforts them in such a confident, gentle, loving manner. They want to be near him, to touch him, to hug him. He puts smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts… for their own young sons. God reveals His power through our weakness. How many lives has God touched through this one person… teachers, peers, doctors, parents… how many others that I am not even aware of? The Lord moves in mysterious ways. His ways are much higher than our earthly minds can often understand. “Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledgeas God has complete knowledge of me.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpWX60l3ZY Elaine O’Connell Chad wrote the following essay when he was in High School. His mother and I never saw it until we were cleaning out his desk after he had left us. This was honestly the way he handled his disability. Two days before he died he played wheelchair hockey with his friends even though his arms were so weak he could barely lift his hands up to the joystick on his wheelchair. “In 1985, tragedy struck my life and the deadly disease Muscular Dystrophy put me in a wheelchair. When this happened it was hard for me to accept. I was always concerned about people’s attitudes towards me. The malls were the worst place for me to go because everybody stared at me and made me feel uncomfortable. This all changed when I met a physical therapist that was paralyzed from waist down. Now many of you may wonder how a physical therapist can work when they are in a wheelchair. Well that was a mystery to me also. At first I didn’t like her, I thought she was very stubborn and hard to get along with. I thought she was very stubborn because she would refuse courteous people who opened doors for her. She was hard to get along with because I didn’t feel the same way about being in a wheelchair. I realized that she was independent and thought of her wheelchair as only an obstacle and not as a tragedy. She got me into activities like; swimming, kayaking and sit-skiing. She did all of these activities and more, which included 10-kilometer races and tennis. This amazed me and helped me find myself. I looked up to her as a role model. She guided me through many years of hardships that I don’t think I could have handled myself. Now that I am almost 18 and have been in a wheelchair 7 years, my attitude and outlook on life have changed. I don’t care when people stare at me. I don’t care what people think of me because I’m in a wheelchair. I’m not going to feel sorry for myself and quit on anything that is hard for me to accomplish. I do have my limits though, and there are things I can’t do, but I just think of all the things I can do.” Chad Michael O’Connell
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