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This month's (August 2010) issue was very personal due to the article. These children we treat at the Shriners Hospital for Children are very sacred to us. Milton loved these kids as much as anyone and his compassion and dedication to these children has carried on past his death through the Nobles that knew him well. I know privacy issues prevent us from discussing the medical factors of our children or even publicly mention their name. I obtained permission from the parents to share this article with my readers. I appreciate her parents for allowing me to share this with people. Her death is very sad but her life was a blessing.
Emily Grace: 1999 - 2010
Being a Shriner and involved with the transportation program puts you in contact with the very children we so adamantly seek to help. One such child was little Emily Grace Jenkins. Normally we don’t talk about the individual particulars of our children but in this case I have permission from the parents. Still the details of her medical conditions are not necessary for this article. Emily was born with several medical conditions that gravely affected her life. We lost little Emily in May of this year; she was ten years old. If there has ever been an angel on Earth, Emily Grace was that angel. I can confidently say that everyone that was in contact with her was truly blessed by knowing her.
I first met little Emily in 2002, Vance and I were transporting three children to the Shreveport Shriners Hospital for Children. The Shreveport hospital specializes in pediatric orthopedic conditions. This was Emily’s first visit and we had a van full of folks. Emily’s mother had an arm in a cast so it was a good thing we allowed both parents to go on the first trip. Her parents told us that Emily had several medical conditions from birth and said that she didn’t ride to well in a car seat. Naturally we replied as always that we could stop anytime we needed, traveling down the day before the appointments gave us all day to get there. Emily did fairly well, but just like her parents had warned, we had to stop ever so often and get the child out 
of her car seat. All in all it wasn’t a bad trip and with three patients, four parents and two Shriners we obviously didn’t run out of discussion topics and even had a few laughs. We were eleven miles from our final exit on a busy four lane highway with nowhere to pull over and Emily got to crying needing to get out of the car seat. The whole van was in tears, saying “Hold on Emily we will be there real soon.” We couldn’t get to our exit fast enough. No one wanted her to be in discomfort.
That evening when the whole group went out for supper, Vance offered to hold Emily so her parents could enjoy their meal. At that time Vance had a baby girl about the same age at home and his empathy level was way up. After about two seconds of holding little Emily, Vance fell totally in love with her and declared he was keeping her. He held that child the rest of the evening. Even though my own daughter was an adult by that time, I vividly remembered what it was like to hold something that precious in your arms. Neither Vance nor I have ever forgotten that experience.
The next morning we got everyone to the Shreveport Shriners Hospital for Children without any difficulty. While Vance and I were sitting in the lobby waiting for our charges to be seen by the doctors, Emily’s mother came out from the examination and treatment area in tears. Vance and I were very alarmed by this; normally the hospital lobby is a happy place full of playing children, parents, Nobles, hospital staff and volunteers. We asked her what was wrong and she told us that they were x-raying her baby. I was confused, especially since I had personally been x-rayed a couple of hundred times and knew there was nothing to it. I remember Vance saying that he was pretty sure that an x-ray didn’t hurt her. Emily’s mother wiped her tears and said, “You don’t understand, no one has ever x-rayed her before, they didn’t care about her legs.” With all the doctors and medical professionals that had seen little Emily since birth and knowing about all of her medical problems, these so called “professionals” had not bothered to find out what was causing this baby so much discomfort. This child was born in 1999 and it was now 2002; even with her mother asking them to x-ray her “they” didn’t see the need. I guess they figured that the child would never walk anyway, why bother. Emily’s mother was crying because finally someone was trying to help her child.
What these long overdue x-rays showed was that Emily’s hips were dislocated and most likely had been since birth. No wonder the poor baby didn’t like riding in a car seat. The Shreveport Shriners Hospital doctors performed surgery on Emily and fixed her hips. Emily made several more trips to Shreveport and I personally drove her two more times. The bad car seat days were over and you could not ask for a sweeter child to transport. Shriners did something to improve her quality of life. Even with all of her medical conditions, a Shriners Hospital made a difference. Being a person myself with an orthopedic condition, I do know what relief from pain means. I also understand what it is like to finally be able to walk across a room means. As an adult, I really have a lot of empathy for these children we treat. Think about it, you are in pain yet you are unable to communicate the cause of that pain for yourself. What would it mean if someone finally seeks to bring you relief?
The last trip I drove to Shreveport with Emily was less than a year before we lost her. We were riding along, I was being my normal self carrying on telling some crazy story or such when I hear Emily laugh. This laughter confused me because she was usually so quiet. Her mother explained that it was the tone of my voice and certain words I said that made her laugh. Talk about a blessing from heaven. That sweet child’s laughter touched the very essence of your soul. It really made me feel good to know that I had brought some joy into her life.
We are very saddened by losing Emily on this Earth but I believe that she is on that higher plane watching us. She surely knows what a Shriner is and every time one of us seeks to help a child, Emily is there. We may not be able to fix all of a child’s problems, but we can do what we can to improve their quality of life. Shriners help thousands of children each year from all over the world. We do not ever take any child for granted, they all are very important to us. Many people were blessed by knowing Emily Grace. She will forever be remembered. She will forever be loved.
Emily Grace Jenkins: October 16, 1999 – May 27, 2010
Memorials can be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children or the Hamasa Transportation fund in memory of Emily Grace Jenkins. Please contact the Hamasa Recorder’s Office at (601) 693-1361
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