Jonathan Bryan is a remarkable 12-year old young man. When his mother, Chantal, was 37 weeks pregnant, she and her husband Christopher were involved in a car crash. Jonathan was born with cerebral palsy. Chantal and Christopher were told that it was highly unlikely that he would ever walk, talk, feed himself, or even recognise his parents. Life was soon a nonstop round of hospital visits and operations.
As his peers started to say their first words, Jonathan could only frown or grin. He was ‘locked in’ and totally unable to communicate beyond a simple ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. He attended a local special school and his mother often read stories to him. He loves The Chronicles of Narnia. One day a health worker asked Chantal whether she had tried to teach Jonathan his letters and numbers. With the help of various professionals and a huge amount of patience from Chantal, it was established that Jonathan’s eyes would be the key to him communicating. They tried various types of ‘eye gaze’ equipment and eventually settled on a Perspex spelling board. Jonathan turned out to be a highly motivated student. He learnt to recognise different letters and numbers and, using a system of colour-coded letters, he began to be able to spell out whole words.
Jonathan has taken part in television programmes and recently published a book entitled “Eye Can Write: a memoir of a child’s silent emerging.” The book was painstakingly written letter by letter. He has helped to launch a charity – Teach Us Too – which campaigns for all non-verbal children to be taught to read and write. He also writes a blog www.eyecantalk.net.
In his book Jonathan writes of his faith in Jesus Christ. When he was nine, Jonathan was in an induced coma and he describes that near-death experience in this way: “…as the time drew on I was aware that I had a choice to make. Either I could stay to meet the gardener, my saviour; or I could go back to my fragile sick body; back to my mind trapped in silence; back to the family I loved. ‘Jonathan!’ My mother’s voice called me from beyond the garden, and my decision was made. That was the hardest decision of my life, but it has also shaped my perspective ever since. While my soul longs to live in the garden, my heart is torn between my family and freedom, but with Jesus’ presence helping me here, I know I can endure my limiting body for longer. My experience in the garden has given me a zest for life.’