Challenge + Difficult + Hard = Possible!
Today, our Year 5 and 6 boys and members of staff were hugely privileged to meet Bart Gee, an incredible young man who was born with a rare physical disability called Arthrogryposis which means he has weak muscles and stiff joints. At birth, Bart’s parents were told that he would never walk or possibly even sit up. However, at the tender age of just 3, Bart put his faith God and has since defied all the odds by learning not only to sit up but to walk, swim, play table tennis and football, run and swim! His determination has given him independence and the strength to take part in numerous triathlons and organised open water swims. Bart drives a car specially adapted with indicators he operates with his head and a handle bar to steer with. Indeed, he had driven 110 miles today to be with us at Lochinver House!
When he was 5, Bart decided that he wanted to learn to play the piano to follow in his father’s footsteps, who was already an accomplished pianist and played the church organ. Once again, experts questioned whether Bart would even have the strength to press down the piano keys but he quickly proved everyone wrong and started to have lessons. By the age of 11 he had passed his Grade 5 piano exam! Today at Lochinver House, Bart treated a spellbound audience to a hauntingly beautiful recital of a very tricky piece, ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow’.
Bart asked the boys to conjure up synonyms for ‘difficult’; they came up with ‘challenging’ and ‘hard’. For Bart, these three words draw to mind just one, ‘possible’! Bart’s story is one of huge courage and faith; his visit really made us all think about our differences and how we might tackle tricky situations ourselves.
