Izzy's Inspiring Step Forward; Life with Cerebral Palsy.

Is'Mael Jo'Ven Traci'Lee Mikhail Cole's story with Cerebral Palsy.

Bathing himself with a wash rag. He cannot stand up without a walker so cannot take a shower and has to kneel at his bathtub and wipe himself with a rag to clean.

Many of life's toils are not as easily seen on a person.

Propping himself back up then sitting back on the toilet to get back in his wheelchair.

He can reach to both walls across his bathroom. Squeezing down to roll himself backward out of the bathroom.

Vacuuming the living room.

Putting the vacuum away with his "mom", Iris, watching. Iris is Izzy's Aunt, his biological mother lives in Detroit with his biological father.

After school, it's homework for the family in the kitchen. Alexis, Izzy's cousin, is working on scientific notation for math and is asking Izzy for his help.

Driving out to the clothesline.

Picking up laundry from the clothes line.

Opening his walker to walk down the street for exercise and to stretch his legs. Iris is in the background checking her mail.

Trying to walk without any help. Iris's sister drove up and is speaking with her while Izzy is walking down to the street.

Speaking to a friend in front of his home, waiting for a ride.

Looking for a job with a life coach Dr. Campbell. Dr. Campbell speaks with Izzy about twice a month and are looking for a job online at Best Buy's website. Izzy believes that would be an awesome job to have while he's still living with Iris.

Waiting to cross the street on his way to the Southern Nazarene Center for Spaghetti night.

Sometimes you need a lift up to help pull up your pants, Tyler is happy to help and to share a laugh with Izzy.

Racing games on the iPhone, Andrew shows Izzy his new game that he had just began playing.

Laughing with friends Jonna and Tyler, Izzy enjoys the company.

Stillwater, Oklahoma Class of 2008.

Enjoying the evening sunlight before the shadows begin to fade and another day has been completed.

Is'Mael leads a difficult life, but finds the beauty of everyday. He is someone who has always been optimistic and loves meeting new people.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement.

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth or after birth up to about age three.

Cerebral palsy describes a group of permanent disorders of the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitation, that are attributed to nonprogressive disturbances that occurred in the developing fetal or infant brain. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy are often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, perception, cognition, communication, and behaviour, by epilepsy, and by secondary musculoskeletal problems.

Of the many types and subtypes of CP, none of them have a known cure. Usually, medical intervention is limited to the treatment and prevention of complications arising from CP's effects.

A 2003 study put the economic cost for people with CP in the US at $921,000 per individual, including lost income.

In another study, the incidence in six countries surveyed was 2.12–2.45 per 1,000 live births, indicating a slight rise in recent years. Improvements in neonatal nursing have helped reduce the number of babies who develop cerebral palsy, but the survival of babies with very low birth weights has increased, and these babies are more likely to have cerebral palsy.

Average life expectancy for a person with CP varies with degree; Izzy will lead a full life and be expected to live 60 plus years total.

Final: Stillwater Humane Society

Jackie Ross-Guerrero, who is Director of the Stillwater Humane Society, and a volunteer try to figure out what happened to this dogs back legs. After running for a few moments with the volunteer he began limping. This is one of the many things Jackie does within a typical day at the society.

This woman began volunteering with the society just a few months ago, and is now a regular, coming in five to six times a week. She knows everything about nearly every dog and will often bring treats for them. She plans on joining the foster program when she moves into a new apartment and is able to have pets.

During Joseppi's Aniversary Week they had an event where proceeds went to the humane society. Here a Joseppi's worker paints the face of a child at the event.

This little boy and his mother spend time with a pet at an adoption event held at the Family Video in Stillwater. The humane society holds adoption events every Saturday at various locations around Stillwater.

Each cage has a "walked" or "not walked" sign for volunteers to flip over after walking the dogs. During the nice spring months every dog is walked almost every day, and many are taken to Boomer Lake with volunteers to run.

This puppy was a part of an abandoned litter of five found behind a donut shop in town. They were given names such as "Poppy" and "Blueberry", and within a week the first three had found homes. Puppies are the easiest to adopt out because this is most often what families are looking for.

The halls and office of the shelter are painted in bright colors, with paw prints decorating many of the walls. This was just one of the many changes Ross-Guerrero made when she took over as director a little more than a year ago.

One of the many dogs within the shelter, just hoping she will get her chance to roam in the back field for awhile.

Since Ross-Guerrero has taken over as director of the shelter adoption rates have more than doubled. She also heavily promotes the volunteer program and events off site, in hopes of bringing more attention to the cause.

A group of volunteers enjoyes the nice weather outside with two of the society's occupants. As you can see the puppies were not interested in playing, they were more interested in affection, which they get plenty of with volunteers like these.

A wall in front of the humane society honoring volunteers, donors and pets who have passed away.

In the cat room there are often multiple cats to a cage. It is now what is considered "kitten season", which runs from around March until near the end of the year. This means there will be a constant flow of kittens coming into the society looking for homes.

A volunteer wrestles with a dog in the field behind the shelter. There are also two fenced off areas where volunteers can go and let dogs off their leashes to run and play.

These girls were hoping to convince their mom they needed this beautiful dog. She had been hit by a car and had arthritis in her back hip, so mom wanted to check with the staff and make sure she would be OK to take home.

This family was visiting from Alaska and came to the shelter on a whim. Although they wanted to wait until their children were a bit older before getting a pet, they fell in love immediately and knew he had to be theirs.

Walking his new pet.

Worn out from a day of playing with the animals, the kids all decide to rest while not letting their potential pet get too far from them.

Final Story

Collet Campbell, Todd's coach, pumps him up a few minute before the competitions begin.
Todd page getting his putter out to make a few practice swings in before the games begins.
Steve Carpenter(team mate) making a few adjustments before the competitions began.

Todd on the practice field before the competitions began.

Yes I did it!!!

Todd's turn to putt the ball for a Birdie.

hile walking to the next hole Todd met up with his former bowling coach Dennis Stoy.
Todd is driving the golf ball down the green.
Todd Page and Steve Carpenter do a "Team Bump" after Page has a good drive.
Todd waits for his turn on the green.
Todd is excited that he recieved first place in the 9 hole and scramble.
Todd waits til the cashier passes the groceries his way.
Todd waits patiently for the next customer. He is very quick to sack up the groceries nice and neat.

Todd begins to sack up the groceries for this customer.

Todd watches a fellow co-worker as he cuts out the coupons for the customer to use.
Mr. page waits patient for more people to come through the line so he could help them.
Todd Page enjoys a little bowling after a hard days work. He is on a Fall, Winter, and Summer league. Todd catches the bowling ball just after it emerges from the machine.
He is trying to concentrate on the arrows to get a strike.
Todd Page releasing the ball hoping for a strike.