A Wheelchair in time

AT THE TIRE REPAIR SHOP IN ANAPRA | Fernando and María pose for a photograph. (Photo/ Morgan Smith)

CHRONICLE OF MY VISITS TO ANAPRA IN CHIHUAHUA

Morgan Smith / Morgan-smith@comcast.net.

It all began totally by chance on November 30, 2019. I was driving west from the center of Juárez, Mexico where I had delivered food and clothing to a migrant shelter called Respettrans into neighboring Anapra with the goal of eventually reaching several projects that I had been documenting and assisting for almost a decade.

These trips are nerve wracking. After all, Juárez still has one of the highest murder rates in the world. But there are also the police, the soldiers, the potholes, the careening drivers, the fatigue of having driven all the way from my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, some five hours to the north.

Photography is my salvation and this time a photo op appeared in the form of a tire repair shop painted a pinkish color. I stopped. A dazed looking man stood in front. His right arm was trembling. I wasn’t able to start a conversation but he seemed to agree to my request to take photos with my cellphone.

Then another man appeared, younger and with a hood over his head. He introduced himself as Fernando, said that the other man was his older brother, Francisco. I took more photos and left.

Take photos

On my next visit I stopped again and gave Fernando a print. We talked and I learned that they had had this tire repair business for forty years.

Despite a gap for COVID, I continued these visits, took pictures of them holding the earlier photos and, more important, told Fernando that I could see Francisco declining. He seemed to have both dementia and Parkinson’s and it was clear that his situation was getting worse.

What could be done in a city like Juárez where medical care is so limited? One of the projects I have been working with since 2011 is called Visión en Acción and is a privately run mental asylum with about 120 patients, a number of whom also have dementia. Would, at some point, this be an option for Francisco? It was obvious that his increasing physical weakness was making it impossible to work on the tire repairs. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any options.

On November 19, 2022, Fernando wasn’t out front as he usually was so I went through the one room shop and found him, his wife, Maria and a grandson in their small living room. Fernando was bent over, holding crutches and wearing slippers on his feet. We talked and he started crying. For once, I found it difficult to understand what he was saying but it was clear that he was facing the loss of his feet due to diabetes which is an epidemic in this area of Mexico.

On several subsequent trips, I passed the shop without stopping. It was just too emotional. But on October 27, 2023, I did stop and there he was in a wheelchair, both feet having been amputated. A young man was repairing a tire for a customer but it was obvious that the business would not be able to continue with both Francisco and Fernando incapacitated. How would they survive?

Miraculous call from Cheryl

On a later visit, Maria showed me Fernando’s pathetic wheelchair. The rear part of the seat was coming apart and Fernando had to sit hunched forward and very uncomfortable. This seemed like the ultimate humiliation of a very proud man.

Two weeks ago, our phone rang and it was Cheryl Ferrell; she and her husband, Jack are the founders of Dignity Mission in Placitas, New Mexico, an extraordinary program which is a major supplier of food, clothing, and medical equipment for migrant shelters in El Paso and Juárez. Jack and Cheryl are always there to help.

“We’ve been given a brand-new wheelchair, Morgan. Do you know anyone who could use it?” Cheryl asked.

On Thursday, April 11, my wife, Sherry, and I picked the wheelchair up in Placitas and on Saturday, we crossed the border at Santa Teresa with it. A Mexican soldier stopped us in the customs line and began to interrogate me about it but, fortunately, I had a photo of Fernando with his feet bandaged to show him and eventually he let us pass. Then we and Maria unpacked the new wheelchair at Fernando’s tire repair store and lifted him into it. Two young men watched us – sons who had come to take over the running of the shop.

 It was a bittersweet moment and just a small step given the enormity of the loss of his feet but it was a start. My deep appreciation to Jack and Cheryl Ferrell. Knowing that I can reach out to a program in Placitas, New Mexico like the Dignity Mission to help solve a human need in Mexico is unique.

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