Birth Trauma: The Astonishing Story of Pierre 2/11/2015
Recently, a mother in South Africa wrote to us about her son—a young man whom we never met but whose life was greatly influenced by The Institutes.
At birth, the umbilical cord was wrapped around Pierre’s neck and he was almost delivered by caesarean section. All seemed well, at first. A few hours later, however, Pierre stopped breathing and had his first seizure.
Mother says, “Later that day our baby did not even remotely resemble the one delivered earlier that day. His left hand started closing over his thumb and his left foot also showed the first signs of contorting.”
Two days later, after tests were run, it was determined that Pierre had developed a massive blood clot in the cortex. Due to the extent of the trauma, parents were told that their baby would be permanently physically impaired, with seizures and learning problems throughout his life. The baby was immediately put on anticonvulsant medication.
Pierre’s mother remembers, “Finally, we made it home to our small African rural town with our baby, devastated by his diagnosis and prognosis, and with nowhere to turn.”
“And then one day, just by chance, a Zimbabwean friend told my husband about the techniques of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. Soon, we would board a plane for Philadelphia, not really knowing, if anything could be done about a brain-damaged child, but seeking a miracle.”
“After spending one week in April of 1994 attending the What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child Course, we arrived back home. Pierre was a mere nine months old, and we immediately implemented all we had learned. Pierre was placed on the floor on his tummy now at all times, including during sleep. We began patterning him, with the help of my in-laws, and I began a rigorous oxygen enrichment program with him as well.”
“We celebrated the first time he crawled out of the room by himself. After all, he did spend his life on the floor. Once Pierre could creep on his hands and knees, we played games with him so he would creep for a mile in the day. Every moment awake was dedicated to the program.”
“Once Pierre could walk, he was encouraged to walk long distances. He could soon walk a mile while playing a game in the process.”
“He eventually progressed to running. We started him on the overhead ladder as soon as he could hang on. I am convinced that there was no fitter child in the two- to three-year age group.”
“At times I found it frustrating to see how easily advances came to other children, but Pierre continually made breakthroughs, after much hard work on his part, and ours, one step at a time, he too would progress to the next developmental level.”
“By the age of four, Pierre appeared to move more or less normally. By five, he was physically equal to his peers. By six years of age, Pierre was winning athletic events.”
“Academically, Pierre went on to be in the top 10% of his class throughout primary school. I ascribed this to this early reading and mathematics program. He continues to be one of the few “readers” among his peers. His teachers have all been unaware he suffered massive brain injury as an infant.”
“Pierre has now achieved numerous academic and athletic awards, including Top 10 Academic Achiever and Best Athlete of the Year. He is First Violin on the national level, conferred by the Royal Schools of Music. He sings in the choir, and plays both the violin and piano.”
“He is highly popular with his male and female peers. There is a constant queue of people demanding his attention. From a young age, Pierre acquired a reputation amongst his teachers and peers that he protects the weaker against bullying, and will, when the need arises, take bullies on physically in defense of others, with great success.”
“Pierre leads the rugby team as captain. Given his medical history, we were opposed to him playing such a violent contact sport, but he insisted. Once again he was equal to the task, and so far he is injury-free.”
Today Pierre is an all-around and well-rounded young man who truly excels at everything he sets his mind to do. This was a child destined for a very different future, or so his parents were told. Instead, he became a miracle child.
Learn more about The What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child Course