February 2013 – Day by Day

This story was in the Columbus Dispatch and the video was on their website. What a story of hope. Read the story below and watch the video: Piglet in Wheelchair

By Barbara Liston
Reuters, Friday February 15, 2013 6:30 AM

ORLANDO, Fla. — Prospects for a farm animal born without the use of its hind legs are normally grim.

That is not the case for Chris P. Bacon, a month-old piglet from Florida whose videotaped struggle to learn how to use a tiny wheelchair have made him an Internet sensation.

“He’s cute. He grunts. And he’s got a pretty cute little wheelchair,” said veterinarian Len Lucero, trying to explain why his YouTube video of Chris’ exploits have logged more than 474,000 views in two weeks.

After a client who could not care for Chris dropped him off at Lucero’s veterinary hospital in Clermont, Fla., Lucero grabbed pieces from a child’s set of K’nex construction toys to build a tiny wheelchair to mobilize the rear end of the pink-and-white piglet.

The six-minute video shows Chris, then 1 pound in weight and 10 days old, struggling with the contraption on Lucero’s living-room rug.

Chris walks on his front legs while lifting and holding the wheelchair off the ground. He grunts and roots around in the rug for food. He drinks lamb formula out of a baby bottle and wears a wet milk mustache.

YouTube videos of Chris playing with a stuffed yellow duck and waking up in an incubator got 160,000 views.

More than 14,000 people have clicked “like” on the “Chris P Bacon Pig on Wheels” Facebook page, and 1,000 people follow him on Twitter.

“You are the cutest piggy ever, you pink oinker!” wrote one of the thousands of fans.

Lucero said Chris was born on Jan. 13 with the congenital defect. His owner thought the only option was to have Chris put down, but Lucero realized Chris could live a full life with proper care. He took Chris to live on his own farm.

Lucero said he does not know how big Chris will get. He has outgrown his second wheelchair and will soon need a more permanent, rugged model.

“He just makes me happy,” said Lucero, adding that he gets little sleep keeping up with his media.

Friday, February 15th, I was fortunate to have the chance to talk with a group called OWLS – Older and Wiser Lutherans – at St. John’s Lutheran Church in my hometown, Grove City, Ohio.

As always, I enjoyed the give and take with the group of nearly 50 seniors more than hearing my own voice. Since I am now a senior as well, we shared many types of experiences and thoughts of our faith in God.

Discussing my latest book, God Whispers: Nudges, Fudges and Butterfly Moments, when I asked what they thought I meant by nudges, several shoved their elbows out to the side with a laugh! Right, I said. Sometimes God needs to give us the elbow, in one form or another, to get our attention.

This was a lively group that I enjoyed immensely. Of course photos often don’t capture all the “action” but thanks to Jim Rorick, I can share a few photos. The first one (on the top) is of me (standing) with Ruth Sawyer Jividen, almost 98, who has a letter to Jesus in my book. Behind her sharing a big smile is another friend and neighbor, Ann Reynolds, who brought Ruth this day. Ruth is a local historical icon with stories that are shared of her early days in Grove City. She and I published a series of columns in the late Suburban News Publications called “Ruth Remembers.” She is the last descendant of the first settler in our fair town.

Thank you OWLS for a delightful experience.