The Beacon 2019 Issue 4 The Beacon 2019 Issue 4 | Page 8

DANIEL BROOKSHIRE
Alumni Spotlight
JOURNEY TO LITTLE LIGHT HOUSE
Alumni student, Daniel was born in June of 1996 to the
Brookshire family and came into the world a perfectly
healthy baby. However, when Daniel was two and a half
years old his family caught a horrible case of E. coli.
“Even after the E. coli passed I continued to have
headaches.” Daniel shared, “The doctors just thought I
was having continued symptoms from the bacteria, but
later discovered I had a brain tumor that smashed the
connection between my brain and eyes.” Daniel received
two surgeries to remove the tumor, but ultimately, was
left blind.
When Daniel was 4 years old he began his journey at the
Little Light House. He attended LLH for 2 years, learning
braille and working hard on hand strengthening exercises
and sensitivity training for his fingers. Daniel stated, “I
definitely feel like Little Light House helped equip me for
the life experiences I’ve had so far. I didn’t realize it then,
but the impact of being around so many other kids with
different abilities helps me do what I do now. It could
have been the start of what I do now.”
TO SERVE THE LEAST OF THESE
Today, Daniel works as a professional para in the
school system. He assists specific students as they go
throughout their day, accompanying them to class and
working alongside classroom teachers to adapt the
lesson for the specific student he accompanies. Being a
para is something that Daniel has had a vision for since
high school, a vision that came about while he was
volunteering with students with multiple disabilities.
I was | doing
that,” Daniel says, “the Lord gave me
The “While
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a verse: Matthew 25:40. ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you
did for the least of these my children, you did it for me.’
A lot of people look down on people with special needs.
A lot, not everyone. But a lot would call them the least. I
believe with God giving me that verse, he was giving me
my mission and my purpose to be a para to those with
special needs.”
MEETING KIAN
Little did Daniel know at the time that vision would lead
him to work with another Little Light House student
with a very similar story. “Last summer, Lynda Crouch,
an Assistive Technology Practitioner at LLH and dear
friend, said that she had a young boy she wanted me to
meet named Kian.” Kian also suffered from a brain tumor
that left him blind. Lynda met Daniel at Kian’s home and
introduced the two.
“I began going over every Friday morning to work with
him on braille and finger strengthening.” Daniel said, “His
mom would always make me a cup of hot tea. She was
so grateful, and I became really close with his family.”
When it came time to decide where Kian was going to go
to school after Little Light House, his family asked Daniel
for his opinion. “It was really cool that they involved
me and my mom in that process. To make things even
cooler, once they got Kian’s individualized plan written
it was noted that he would need a para. I talked to his
family about the possibility of me pursing this. They
thought it was a great idea.”
This fall Daniel was approved to be Kian’s para, bringing
his journey with Little Light House full circle and allowing
him to continue the mission he received from God to
serve “the least of these”.