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Matric

Life after challenges – Isaac Moritz charts the future

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Isaac Moritz was the boy most likely to do and be whatever he wanted until his fateful accident in the sea in Sea Point on Christmas Eve, 2021. However, having just matriculated, Isaac has learnt the hard way over the past three years that life goes on no matter what, and he has to carry on in his own way.

For Isaac, matriculating with almost a full house of distinctions wasn’t such a big deal because he has much bigger challenges to face on a daily basis. His biggest challenge is being able to put on a t-shirt himself.

Isaac broke his neck when he dived into a wave, hitting a sandbank, while on holiday just before going into Grade 9. Isaac remembers every single detail of that day, but when he looks at the photograph of himself and his friends taken just moments before he went into the sea, he says, he doesn’t recognise that boy. “I’m not that person anymore,” he said.

He spent much of what would have been his Grade 9 year in and out of hospital, having been critically ill, but surrounded always by his loving family. “We didn’t leave his side once in all that time,” said his mother, Merissa Moritz, a mother of five. “He was so vulnerable and unable to do anything for himself.” She ensured that the hospital made room for her and sometimes her family to sleep and, for the first five months, she didn’t spend one Shabbos at home.

Isaac looks back at his time in hospital with a form of longing, remembering it as an idyllic time. “It was a safe, happy space with my family and no outside world. I had no worries and no idea what would happen to me. It was peaceful, like living in an alternate world, a cocoon,” he said.

It was when he moved to rehabilitation and then an outpatient that the reality of the challenges ahead of him set in. “The analogy that works for me is when someone dies, the family gets food brought to them until the food stops, but the family still has to continue,” he said.

Isaac is a strong personality, and before his accident he “did everything fast”, and was a larger-than-life character with a great sense of humour. While his sense of humour and character is intact, getting around and doing things physically is complicated and difficult. His mind and brain are just as sharp and quick-witted but his body isn’t, which frustrates him.

“Sport was a huge outlet for me, and whatever I did, I did it fast. When things were slow, I would get frustrated. I now have three years of built-up frustration as I adapt to a completely new life,” he said. “It’s as if I have every memory put into a body that doesn’t know anything and is still figuring it out.”

After his accident, Isaac left King David Linksfield for Yeshiva College, in which he could work towards a GED (General Education Development) matric – an online, accessible, internationally-recognised American alternative to matric. He would go into the school’s YEISH (academic support) Centre every weekday, and have two hours of lessons worked around his extensive rehabilitation schedule.

“It was good going to Yeshiva because I had childhood friends there, but it was me and a tutor, and then home again. It was isolating as I didn’t have much interaction with others. The isolation has been a huge challenge for me,” he said.

“I’ve realised that life moves on, and I cannot sit and wait. I may never be 100%, but I must do the best I can with what I have.”

It was hard as a mother not to see her son enjoy all the “bells and whistles” of the matric year, Merissa said, with the matric dance and all the social activities. “It’s a huge loss for a child who was so capable, social, and able to do everything well,” she said.

Since the accident, there have been many in the community who have said tehillim for Isaac. The practice has been ongoing for three years. “We’re grateful for this. It’s a holding space,” said Merissa, who regularly updates the tehillim WhatsApp group about Isaac to keep people in touch with his situation. “We have to live this life, but people in our community have been amazing.”

Many have been inspired by Isaac, and praise his drive to improve and his bravery. Isaac said he found it difficult to understand what they mean. “I can see what I can’t do for myself and how I believe I could do more, so I can’t see inspiration, only frustration,” he said. “Many people have challenges, and mine is my body.”

Merissa, an occupational therapist, recalls the first day she took Isaac to a particular rehabilitation centre and stopped to watch a man, whose disability was more severe than Isaac’s, as he parking in his adapted car. “He looked at Isaac, and told him he should be so grateful, and better work very hard. He said if he was Isaac, he would be running a marathon by now.

“Another man who was able-bodied came up to Isaac and the man who had just spoken, and said that they were both lucky because while the world can see their disabilities, he’s not even asking their name because in five minutes he would have forgotten them,” Merissa recalled. “It made us quickly realise that on our journey, we have to stay in our own lane and do our best.”

That’s exactly what Isaac is trying to do. At this point, he has few plans for the future. “I want to educate people about what’s needed for disabled people. I want people to understand how important it is to make everything wheelchair accessible. But I don’t want it to be my career,” he said.

“I’ll spend this year trying to figure out what I want to do. I’m trying to find myself. I have lost a lot and am starting from the beginning. I have a blank canvas to paint.

“It doesn’t matter what I wanted to do before my accident because that’s gone. It’s history, and I now need to find a new reality for myself. Truth is, when you lose something, acceptance is easier said than done, but it isn’t a choice.”

“I have a family who loves me, and I’m so grateful for that. I can’t change what has happened. I can feel bad and stay in bed or feel bad and do something positive. I choose the latter.”

Isaac and his mom are investigating what he needs to do to get his licence. He loves going for drives in fast cars, and can’t wait to be able to drive his own car. He also loves flying.

Like most 18-year-olds, Isaac wants to experience everything and do as much as he can, only he has to find his own way to make it happen.

“What amazes me about Isaac,” said Merissa, “is it would be easier to stay at home rather than make the effort to go out and do things, but he goes and does it anyway, no matter how hard it is.”

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