Little victories and a pal named Al

Sometimes the little things are what count the most, and sometimes those little things can be delivered by very big passages.

Just ask Ron Chaisson of Houma and he will help you make sense of this very quickly.

Ron is 38 years old and has worked in the Terrebonne ARC Country Store, taking phone orders and waiting on people, and always he has a smile to give because that’s the kind of guy that he is. A few years back, he left Terrebonne Parish and traveled with his mother, Kathlenn, to Dollywood, at Pigeon Forge, Tennesse, where his volunteer stuff at ARC served a great purpose. He went to work in the Nifty Fifties Red’s Diner they had there, wearing one of the old-fashioned soda jerk hats and just loving it. The gig did not last long, however, because there were changes in some employment policies and Ron and a few other people got laid off , and so it was back to Louisiana where he continued doing good things for people.

Ron tries to bring joy to everyone he meets; he’s friendly and outgoing, determined to make things work even when it looks like trouble is afoot.

And a foot was the problem for Ron, for a very long time. One of his gave problem after problem, and he cooperated with the treatments but the bottom line was, this foot, his left, had a bone problem and walking had become very, very difficult.

“I had a bone infection and I was going to wound care at St. Anne General Hospital in Raceland,” Ron explained.

In 2012, the doctors figured they were fighting a losing battle with this foot, and the only reasonable option left was to remove it, which they did.

Ron wasn’t happy about losing the foot but it was better than continuing on in pain, and he did everything he was told to do in therapy at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, where he got outfitted for a prosthesis.

“It was hard at first, it was hurting,” Ron said.

It is difficult to imagine giving up a foot, a part of the body we take so much for granted but which perform such vital functions, and are intended to work as a pair, so take away one and life gets hard.

Ron kept on working with the prosthetic that wasn’t so good and finally got fit for one that worked well, and he was ready to conquer the world. This type of conquering gets done step by step, and Ron decided that what he wanted to do was ride a horse.

“I have always wanted to,” Ron said. “It was in the blood. My mama rode a long time ago and I wanted to try, especially since a lot of my friends have horses.”

This might sound easy, since the horse does all the walking and the prosthesis shouldn’t make a difference, therefore. But there is a lot involved.

One of the problems is that if you fall down with the prosthesis it can be really hard to get back up again.

At Tom Hassell’s ranch, Ron got introduced to a beautiful quarter-horse named Al, who is of good disposition and should have been perfect for a good ride. Things didn’t quite work out, however, for reasons known only to Al. But on another day they were determined to try again, Tom and Ron, and Al was reintroduced. This time it went a little better.

Ron made sure to set Al at ease, rubbing his soft, velvety nose and talking softly, and when the time came for riding, he stood up in the bed of a pickup, Ron did, and with help from Tom was able to sit astride the horse, who did all the work after that. They walked

all around this riding ring, with Tom holding a line to make sure there were no problems. Al even trotted a little bit, and Ron was just having the time of his life. Nobody fell. Everybody smiled.

“It felt good,” Ron said. “When we started, I said to myself, how we were going to do this,” Ron said. “I was so excited.”

Ron isn’t sure how long the ride lasted, but to him it was a pretty long time, and he plans to visit again. The experience reaffirmed for Ron his belief that if you put your mind to anything you can do it.

“You have your ups and downs and many people think they can’t do stuff with a prosthetic leg but they can,” said Ron, whose next accomplishment is going to be bowling, which will also be a victory. Because in the long run it is, indeed, the little things that count.