Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!
Leverage SEO-optimized Flipbooks, powerful backlinks, and multimedia content to professionally showcase your products and significantly increase your reach.
<strong>My</strong> n a m e <strong>is</strong><br />
<strong>Zario</strong>
<strong>My</strong> n a m e <strong>is</strong><br />
<strong>Zario</strong><br />
Original story: Emile Smith<br />
Adapted story: Gerda Brown, Robert Scott and<br />
Dominic Brown<br />
Editing: Keith Richmond<br />
Illustration: Divan Joubert
Our story begins with 12-year-old <strong>Zario</strong>.<br />
He lives on a farm with h<strong>is</strong> mom and dad<br />
as well as many farm animals.
<strong>Zario</strong> loves playing barefoot on the farm with h<strong>is</strong><br />
puppy, Zigi. The green grass tickles h<strong>is</strong> legs and feet<br />
and makes him smile. H<strong>is</strong> smile sparkles in the<br />
sunshine.
<strong>Zario</strong> loves school, and h<strong>is</strong> classroom has lots of<br />
colourful pictures on the walls.
“We are not allowed to make no<strong>is</strong>e in class.”<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> shares h<strong>is</strong> desk with h<strong>is</strong> tall friend,<br />
Brey. Their desk looks like a paintball field<br />
because they love drawing cars and bugs on<br />
it.
Back at home, <strong>Zario</strong> looks in the mirror. He sees that<br />
h<strong>is</strong> tummy <strong>is</strong> sticking out and h<strong>is</strong> shoulders are pulled<br />
back. “What <strong>is</strong> happening?” <strong>Zario</strong> wonders.
He starts to look and feel different.<br />
He also starts to fall a lot.<br />
One day he falls at school. The<br />
other kids surround him and<br />
laugh.<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> feels very ashamed and starts crying but luckily<br />
h<strong>is</strong> good friend Brey comes to help him.
That afternoon when<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> comes home he <strong>is</strong><br />
very sad and confused.<br />
He tells h<strong>is</strong> mom that he<br />
had fallen at school and<br />
that he couldn’t get back<br />
up.<br />
H<strong>is</strong> mom hugs him tightly<br />
and says that they should<br />
go to see the doctor.
Together <strong>Zario</strong> and h<strong>is</strong> mom go to Hospital Hill to see<br />
Doctor Thomas.<br />
The doctor’s room looks like a science lab. Strange<br />
calculations are written on the walls and it has lots of<br />
strange objects all around.
Doctor Thomas tells <strong>Zario</strong>, “Don’t be afraid, I will help<br />
you”.<br />
The doctor does all sorts of strength<br />
tests on <strong>Zario</strong>’s arms and legs. He<br />
<strong>is</strong> asked to walk around and also to<br />
sit down on the floor and stand up.<br />
He also has to have h<strong>is</strong> blood drawn<br />
for Doctor Thomas to test. <strong>Zario</strong> <strong>is</strong> a<br />
bit scared of the needle but h<strong>is</strong> mom<br />
holds h<strong>is</strong> hand tightly.
Doctor Thomas tells <strong>Zario</strong> what he<br />
has found. <strong>Zario</strong> has muscular<br />
dystrophy.<br />
The doctor says: “Anyone can get<br />
muscular dystrophy, and it <strong>is</strong> not<br />
because you have done anything<br />
wrong. Your muscles will get weaker<br />
over time.”
<strong>Zario</strong> feels that muscular dystrophy <strong>is</strong> an alien inside h<strong>is</strong><br />
body. The alien makes h<strong>is</strong> muscles very tired and weak.<br />
To help him move around, <strong>Zario</strong> <strong>is</strong> given a wheelchair<br />
from the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation.<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> <strong>is</strong> happy that he doesn’t have to worry about<br />
falling anymore.
The muscular dystrophy alien makes<br />
<strong>Zario</strong>’s muscles weak. H<strong>is</strong> hands and<br />
arms cannot lift things anymore. He<br />
has to use h<strong>is</strong> wheelchair more<br />
often too.<br />
Bath time becomes very different<br />
for <strong>Zario</strong>. At home, a bath lift hangs<br />
over the bath so he can get in and<br />
out more easily. <strong>Zario</strong> wants to bath<br />
alone but h<strong>is</strong> parents have to help him.
<strong>Zario</strong>’s school has stairs and he needs a ramp for h<strong>is</strong><br />
wheelchair. So he has to go to a new school where he<br />
can easily move around between the classrooms and<br />
during break time. At the new school most of the other<br />
children also have wheelchairs and some have<br />
crutches.
<strong>Zario</strong> settles in with h<strong>is</strong> new friends. Some of<br />
them also have muscular dystrophy. H<strong>is</strong> new<br />
friend, Yaya, has muscular dystrophy too.<br />
Another new friend <strong>is</strong><br />
Remz, who <strong>is</strong> using a<br />
wheelchair because he<br />
had been in an accident.<br />
The three friends love to spend<br />
time under the shade of the big<br />
trees drawing superheroes.
That night, while <strong>Zario</strong> <strong>is</strong> sleeping, something wakes<br />
him up. He opens h<strong>is</strong> eyes and sees something<br />
amazing! The most beautiful fairy <strong>is</strong> shimmering in the<br />
moonlight. H<strong>is</strong> room <strong>is</strong> filled with all the colours of the<br />
rainbow.
The fairy says: “I am from a world far<br />
away called Green World. It <strong>is</strong> the<br />
happiest place of all. The most<br />
beautiful gardens grow there<br />
and birds chirp the whole<br />
day long. But the secret of<br />
th<strong>is</strong> amazing world <strong>is</strong> that<br />
the big smiles of the people<br />
living there keep the spirit of<br />
Green World alive and make things<br />
grow. Someone has stolen the<br />
smiles and now our world lost its<br />
colour and will surely die. <strong>Zario</strong>, we<br />
need your help to find the stolen smiles<br />
in Green World.”<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> asks the fairy: “Why<br />
have you chosen me? <strong>My</strong><br />
muscles are weak and I<br />
am not strong enough to<br />
be a hero.”<br />
The fairy responds: “You<br />
are uniquely created for<br />
Green World because you<br />
have a secret ability within<br />
you. If you close your<br />
eyes and think really hard,<br />
you can make anything<br />
happen.”
<strong>Zario</strong> feels totally different.<br />
He feels like the hero he<br />
has always dreamt of being.<br />
When he looks down he<br />
sees that h<strong>is</strong> pyjamas have<br />
changed too! He <strong>is</strong> wearing<br />
a green and white superhero<br />
costume, and h<strong>is</strong> hair has a<br />
green stripe in it.<br />
<strong>Zario</strong> now has another <strong>name</strong><br />
. . . Captain Muscles!
<strong>Zario</strong> looks around h<strong>is</strong> room and sees that, amazingly,<br />
the colour has gone, and he real<strong>is</strong>es he <strong>is</strong> in Green<br />
World. Everything <strong>is</strong> dark and grey because the smiles<br />
have been stolen.<br />
“Beware, young hero, for great evil dwells in Green<br />
World,” the fairy says from above.<br />
“I will save Green World by getting everyone’s smiles<br />
back,” Captain Muscles replies.
Captain<br />
Muscles<br />
Captain Muscles does not<br />
know where the smiles are<br />
hidden, so he closes h<strong>is</strong> eyes<br />
tightly and uses h<strong>is</strong> power<br />
of mind control to locate the<br />
smiles. They are hidden away<br />
by the evil villain known only<br />
as “Dystroya”.<br />
He arrives at Dystroya’s hideout. There are no<br />
colours here and all <strong>is</strong> dark. The only thing he<br />
can see <strong>is</strong> a dark hooded figure and a giant<br />
cauldron filled with the stolen smiles.
Captain Muscles real<strong>is</strong>es that the dark figure <strong>is</strong> Dystroya.<br />
Dystroya yells: “I know you are here for the smiles. I<br />
won’t let you have them!”<br />
Again Captain Muscles closes h<strong>is</strong> eyes tightly and<br />
imagines the whole of Green World smiling.
Colours begin to shine throughout the darkness<br />
and Dystroya begins to panic. He knows he <strong>is</strong><br />
losing h<strong>is</strong> hold on Green World’s smiles. “I won’t<br />
let you win!”<br />
Captain Muscles replies: “Green World will never<br />
stop smiling.”
Suddenly the cauldron begins to shake and finally it<br />
bursts open. All the smiles escape and soar like<br />
shooting stars across the sky. The smiles are in a great<br />
hurry to return to their owners!
In no time at all, Green World begins to shimmer with<br />
colour. Joy and harmony are restored.<br />
Evil will never again enter Green World.<br />
Now the smiles are here to stay, forever!
The next day at school, <strong>Zario</strong> sees all the children<br />
smiling. He knows that he has saved the day.<br />
If you set your mind to it, wonderful things are possible!
About the author<br />
<strong>My</strong> <strong>name</strong> <strong>is</strong> Emile Smith, Meemo the<br />
human f<strong>is</strong>h. I’m 26 years old and I’ve been living with<br />
Muscular Dystrophy for more then 15years. I ride in a<br />
wheelchair sometimes, it’s nice to race in the streets<br />
of Worcester. I’ve learned that you should never let<br />
what you can’t do anymore stop you from what you<br />
can do! I love writing, it’s therapy!<br />
<strong>Zario</strong>’s <strong>name</strong> comes from the movie Rio, it’s sounds,<br />
it’s colours and beautiful birds, <strong>Zario</strong> loves to fly<br />
with birds chirping in the sky. <strong>Zario</strong> wants to tell you,<br />
heroes are not perfect but heroes also use wheelchairs,<br />
heroes struggle but heroes smile... You are a <strong>Zario</strong>!<br />
A heartfelt thank you to FC Robb Charitable Trust for<br />
donating the funding to make th<strong>is</strong> book possible.
ABOUT THE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH<br />
AFRICA<br />
The Muscular Dystrophy Research Foundation of South Africa was<br />
founded in 1974 by Mr and Mrs Newton Walker of Potchefstroom, who<br />
at the time had a son affected with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.<br />
They felt there was a need to reach out to other parents and families<br />
in a similar situation and also to support research into th<strong>is</strong> d<strong>is</strong>ease with<br />
the ultimate goal of finding a cure.<br />
Today the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of South Africa (MDFSA)<br />
<strong>is</strong> a reg<strong>is</strong>tered non-profit organ<strong>is</strong>ation – Reg. No. 004-152 NPO –<br />
cons<strong>is</strong>ting of a national office and three branches (Roodepoort, Cape<br />
Town and Durban) which operate in the nine provinces of South Africa.<br />
The m<strong>is</strong>sion of the Foundation <strong>is</strong> to support people affected by<br />
muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular d<strong>is</strong>orders and endeavour to<br />
improve the quality of life of its members. We ass<strong>is</strong>t affected persons<br />
and their families by providing access to international information<br />
regarding specific dystrophies, workshops, support groups, referral<br />
to genetic counselling and health facilities, and providing ass<strong>is</strong>tive<br />
devices when funding <strong>is</strong> available. We also strive to keep our members<br />
updated via the MDF website, Facebook page and in-house magazine.<br />
National Office<br />
12 Botes Street, Florida Park<br />
Tel 011 472-9703<br />
Website: www.mdsa.org.za<br />
Facebook: Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of South Africa<br />
Gauteng Branch (Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and<br />
North West<br />
12 Botes Street, Florida Park<br />
Tel 011 472-9824<br />
KZN Branch (KwaZulu-Natal and part of Eastern Cape)<br />
Office 7, 24 Somtseu Road, Durban<br />
Tel 031 332-0211<br />
Cape Town Branch (Western Cape, Northern Cape and part of<br />
Eastern Cape)<br />
3 Wiener Street, Goodwood<br />
Tel 021 592-7306