The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Emilly Braga
Mary Wall, Teacher
Barnstable Intermediate School, Barnstable, MA
Bravery… What is Bravery? General Omar N. Bradley said “Bravery is the
capacity to perform even when scared half to death.” Honestly, I think that
bravery has a lot of meanings, but my story is a little different from what you
would expect.
I was an ordinary kid, but I didn’t get any exercise. I was really insecure about
my body. One day at school, during recess, my heart started hurting. I thought
I was just playing too much, and I took a break. After a while of sitting down
my heart started hurting more and more. My skin turned pale, and I started
taking short breaths. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. Everytime
I breathed I felt a very sharp pain that I couldn’t bear anymore. The pain
got worse and worse the quicker I breathed. So I held my breath. It hurt, but
not as bad as it did before. When I was walking I started wondering… What’s
wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Am I… DYING? I quickly erased those
thoughts from my head and kept going.
“After this whole
thing happened
I learned to take
care of myself.”
The next year, I went to my doctor for my yearly check up. She was shocked
at how much I had grown! She told me that she was so proud of me and my
body, and that I’m in perfect health! It has been two and a half years now
with no heart problems! After this whole thing happened I learned to take
care of myself. I also learned that even when you are scared and nervous, it
is important to keep going and not give up. To me, that’s real bravery.
I went to the nurse’s office, and explained what happened. The nurse called
my mother who immediately took me to the doctor. The doctor said that my
heart could be hurting because of my body weight. At the time I was eight or
nine years old and I was 92 pounds, which was a little overweight for my age.
I had to go to the hospital, get an EKG, and meet with a cardiologist. The
doctor suggested that I start to get more active by joining a sport or getting
outside each day to walk.
I honestly didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to start. One day my
mom saw an advertisement at my school for a swim team and pointed it out to
me. I told her that I’d like to try it. I was a good swimmer, and this might be
a way to get exercise. I got in!
The first day of practice went HORRIBLY! I was missing all my times, and I
was getting lapped. I wanted to quit right then and there, but I kept going.
After a while I started doing great! Until my first swim meet. I had a 50 yard
backstroke–that’s all I had to do. I was good at backstroke, but the problem
was I didn’t know when to start! On the starting block, I was scared. I could
hear my heart in my ears as the buzzer went off, and I dove in. At first I
didn’t move, but then I started kicking and started moving. I came in fourth
place. I was so proud of myself!
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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