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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Thanks to the work of a Yellowknife man a little girl in Mexico is now able to walk.

Ariam Guadalupe was wheelchair-bound and unable to walk when Yellowknife's Barry Talbot visited her at her home in Obergon, Mexico in 2009. Guadalupe, seen here last month, is now able to walk after an operation Talbot helped fund. - photo courtesy of Barry Talbot

In April, Barry Talbot visited seven-year-old Airam Guadalupe Ortega of Obergon, Mexico to witness the fruit of his work.

Ortega was born with cerebral palsy and under-developed leg tendons which kept her bedridden and unable to socialize with other kids.

Talbot first met Ortega in 2009 when he was delivering wheelchairs to people in the community.

"So basically, she used to be in bed all day and her mom had to carry her everywhere she went. So she was quite grateful to get the wheelchair. Her mom said that for about $2,500 US she could have an operation done on her legs and there's about a 95 per cent chance that she could learn how to walk," said Talbot.

His experience on April 19 when he visited was something Talbot said he would never forget.

"It was like a miracle, really, because here's a little girl who really had no life before and to know I had a part in improving her life was a pretty gratifying feeling," said Talbot.

"Probably the birth of my children is the most exciting thing that has happened to me, but this would rank right up there."

Talbot, who has been sending wheelchairs to Mexico since 2004, said it was Ortega's smile that drew him to her.

"If you look at her there's normally a big smile on her, and that's sort of what attracted me to her in the first place. There's sort of a radiance about her," an experience that changed his life.

Talbot, working with the Rotary Club of Yellowknife and St. Patrick High School, helped raise approximately $5,000 for the surgery, which ended up costing $1,637. The rest of the money will be used to help fund Ortega's therapy.

"It's just the way my parents raised me. They were Christian people but it wasn't like they were with the Salvation Army or anything, but they were continually taking people off the street and feeding them and giving them a place to sleep. (Helping people) was just a value that I learned from them."

Talbot says later this year he plans on donating money to help with renovations for an Obergon school.

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