From being completely healthy one day, to being hospitalized the next, Chris Eckhardt, senior, has dealt with immeasurable amounts of adversity. He has spent weeks in a hospital, yet doctors still cannot form a diagnosis. As a result of being sick, Eckhardt currently cannot swim and he awaits the day that he can be in the water again. His stories of adversity, gratefulness and recovery are incredible, and they deserve to be heard. Eckhardt’s stories have been split into three separate articles, each focusing on a different aspect of his journey. 

Part 2: Gratefulness

“I have taken this experience and have cultivated a much deeper appreciation for my life, those I love, and the things I love to do. I remember sitting in my hospital room late at night alone thinking to myself, “Why me? Why now?” I was a “Debbie Downer” and it was pathetic. I was on floor nine- the really-sick-kid floor. As I sat there, it occurred to me that there were kids who were a lot sicker than I am, and that prompted my perspective to change. For instance, my room neighbor was a seven year old girl dying of Leukemia. A very advanced stage, a very sad situation- as you could imagine. I was taking a walk with the guidance of my nurse, because I was at risk of falling, and I remember seeing this bright young girl zooming past me in her wheelchair as I was trying to walk. She stopped, turned around, and with the happiest eyes I have ever seen, and with the most sarcastic face ever, she pointed to me and said ‘Ha-ha.’ At the time it occurred to me that maybe she laughed at me because I looked like a wild beast because I hadn’t shaved in days, or because watching me try to walk was funny, or maybe because she is used to being the slowest one in the hallway– because she can’t walk very well either– and she enjoyed the change of pace (no pun intended). It was funny because later that day, as she was trying to walk while I was rushed down for a CT scan, I passed her, I turned around with a sarcastic grin, looked at her, and as she let out the most innocent little chuckle I have ever heard with the biggest smile I have ever seen, I pointed and said ‘Ha-ha.’ All the adversity and negative thoughts I had melted away in that moment. As we stayed there in the hallway laughing, that seven year old girl taught me that happiness is a choice. I have never looked at myself the same way again. I may be sick, but I have the power to choose to be happy. And although I missed out on the memories of senior year Homecoming, or a couple of swim races, I gained wonderful memories I shared with that amazing young girl, who taught me more about gratefulness and life itself than anyone will ever know. I also learned that sometimes the best things in our lives come unannounced, or unexpected. Who would’ve thought that a seven year girl would teach me about life, or one of the most beautiful moments of my life would come out of Children’s Hospital. She changed my life. The kids at Children’s Hospital are incredible, not necessarily because they live with such tragic situations, but because they are the happiest children I have ever seen in my entire life. I handle my adversity by thinking back to that moment, thinking back to her- the friendship we developed during my stay in the hospital, by seeing each other every day and watching movies together- and I think to myself the adversity I face is pity and I now take a step back and be thankful I am alive. Be thankful I am a mighty Highlander. Be thankful for what I can do, and that I have a future outside of floor nine. And when thinking about the amazing people I have in my life or the amazing opportunities I have- the level of adversity is nothing compared to the level happiness I have,” Eckhardt said.