I wrote this poem about my father. He is not a rare dad, but I feel like he can be an inspiration for those going through hard times.

He hurt his leg at the age of 22, when it got ran over by a train, while he was in the Navy. The doctors tried to save his leg with many surgeries but were unsuccessful and eventually they had to amputate it. He could not go back to the Navy, but he got a job sweeping floors at the office that made his prosthetic leg. Eventually he became a prosthetist himself. That was the start of his calling, through his job he has been a living example to his patients that it is possible to continue after such a huge loss.

That is what many people with rare diseases do, they become an advocate for their disease even while fighting it. Those advocates show the world that even when it is tough to keep going, you have to make the best of it and be an inspiration to others.

Happy Father’s Day to all those dads out there who are advocates for their disease or their children’s!