The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX
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Raquel Robson<br />
Eryn Allen, Teacher<br />
Keith Middle School, New Bedford MA<br />
<strong>Courage</strong> to me is when you get through a hard time in life. My brother was<br />
only one or two when he got Kawasaki disease. He was very sick <strong>and</strong> in a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> pain. His pain impacted me <strong>and</strong> many others in our family. This was a very<br />
difficult time.<br />
My brother’s first sign <strong>of</strong> sickness was in late June when he was in my room<br />
hanging out <strong>and</strong> he vomited out <strong>of</strong> nowhere. I told my parents <strong>and</strong> they gave<br />
him some medicine. After that day he developed more symptoms <strong>of</strong> sickness.<br />
He had a fever, runny nose, <strong>and</strong> continued to vomit. A few days later my mom<br />
was changing his diaper <strong>and</strong> found that his urine was an orange color. We took<br />
him to the hospital as soon as possible. <strong>The</strong> doctors ran tests on him, but they<br />
couldn’t find what was wrong.<br />
One day they discovered he had an illness that they didn’t know much<br />
about <strong>and</strong> decided to send my brother to <strong>Boston</strong> <strong>Children</strong>’s Hospital in an<br />
ambulance. At this point it was early July, <strong>and</strong> I had to be picked up from the<br />
hospital by my gr<strong>and</strong>pa. I was upset that I couldn’t be there for my brother,<br />
but also felt a little better because I didn’t have to see him in pain. Once<br />
while in the hospital I witnessed my brother getting a needle put in his arm.<br />
It traumatized me to hear his cries, <strong>and</strong> I had to look away.<br />
As the days went on, he was getting treated <strong>and</strong> my parents had to stay in<br />
<strong>Boston</strong>. This is when the doctors discovered he had Kawasaki Disease. This<br />
disease is rare <strong>and</strong> mostly affects young children. After this discovery I realized<br />
that it was going to be the Fourth <strong>of</strong> July soon. This made me upset because<br />
my brother <strong>and</strong> parents weren’t going to be able to go to the carnival with<br />
me <strong>and</strong> watch fireworks like we had done every year. I still got to go with my<br />
gr<strong>and</strong>parents, but it wasn’t the same.<br />
A few days after the Fourth <strong>of</strong> July my brother was almost cured. My gr<strong>and</strong>ma<br />
finally brought me to <strong>Boston</strong> to go see my brother <strong>and</strong> parents. When I saw<br />
him in the hospital I was so happy to see him getting better, <strong>and</strong> about two<br />
days later my brother was finally ready to go home. He was energetic <strong>and</strong><br />
happy like he was before, <strong>and</strong> I was relieved to see him being his normal self.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Courage</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Children</strong>: <strong>Boston</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Beyond</strong><br />
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