Against all odds

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

Achievements for 16-year-old Jacob Mier don't come as easily as they do for most teenagers. A task as simple as walking down the school hallway can be daunting. To hold a pencil and write a sentence is a daily challenge. To learn to drive is an even greater one.

And yet, when various degrees of nine Taekwondo black belts were handed out recently after a grueling four-hour testing session at Carrillo's Martial Arts Studio in Dexter,, among the names called was that of Jacob Mier. To a thundering round of applause and a few tears, Jacob ran to the table of judges to officially receive the belt that represented more than four years of hard work. And on his way up to the judges' stand, he fell. Several in the audience who lined the walls of the studio gasped. A few sighs were heard. But undaunted, Jacob bounced back up and continued onward, with the smile that has come to be so familiar to all whose paths he has crossed.

That ever-present smile, coupled with a powerful sense of determination, seems to have served the Dexter High School sophomore well over the years. In a world where challenges present themselves with every turn, Jacob Mier has managed to maneuver those turns and remain on a straight path to success in all that he does.

For Kenny and Karen Mier, all appeared normal with their newborn son in June 1995. But at seven months of age, Jacob began to have seizures. Eventually, an ultrasound revealed shadows on the brain. Through a series of hospital visits to Memphis and then St. Louis, the young couple was told Jacob had three subdural hematomas or "brain bleeds" that led to his seizures.

"No one, though, could tell us what was causing the bleeds," recalls his mother.

Jacob began receiving therapy at the Kenny Rogers Children's Center in Sikeston when it became obvious to both his parents and his physicians that he was showing signs of developmental delays.

"Jacob was 15 months old when we were referred to Dr. David Callahan, a pediatric neurologist in St. Louis," Karen explains.

That visit led to Jacob's diagnosis, and for the Miers, their questions were finally met with answers. A simple skin test performed in the Genetics Department of St. Louis Children's Hospital revealed what Dr. Callahan suspected upon Jacob's first visit. He had a condition called GA 1, or Glutaric Aciduria Type 1.

"What we were told was terrifying for new parents," Jacob's mother says. "The condition meant that Jacob's body could not process protein like a normal person can. His body could not break down the essential amino acids called lysine and tryptophan that are in protein."

Instead, the acids build up and create something called Glutaric acid. That acid attacks the body's central nervous system.

"Since Jacob was not diagnosed until he was 15 months old," Karen explains, "and was fed formula like a normal child, he already had significant damage to his central nervous system."

Most noticeable of those changes that will affect Jacob throughout his life is his unsteady gait. While there was no way to "undo" the damage that was done in his first year of life, the Miers researched and met with physicians, and Jacob was started on L-Carnitine liquid and Riboflavin, which help "piggyback" proteins out of his body.

"In addition," says his mother, "he is on a very restricted protein diet. We count proteins in food like many people count fats and calories."

By the age of seven, Jacob's seizures stopped, and as his body grew, his muscles became stronger. Although doctors he visited as an infant told the Miers their son would never walk, he began a preschool program within Dexter Schools at three years old, using a walker. There, the walks down the long hallways leading to his classroom and the lunchroom became his daily challenge. With a sense of determination already building, Jacob was relentless in maneuvering through the school with no help from adults - and no matter the obstacles or the number of falls, he would pick himself up and continue on his way - with a smile that would become his trademark for the teachers and staff who came to know and love the speeding little curly-headed guy with the walker.

When Jacob reached the middle school level, he made the decision on his own to do away with the walker. He would walk on his own. He would fall, but he would get up, just like in preschool, and continue on his way. He wanted no offers for help - only to get to where he was going under his own power.

"That's something we've always encouraged Jacob to do," Karen attests, "to always get back up and try again, and I think he's applied that rule throughout his life."

Jacob didn't only defy his physicians by learning to walk without an aide, he also surpassed all expectations academically. At the middle school level, he took honors in the County Scholastic Meet and at the Regional Science Fair. As a freshman last year, he ranked in a three-way tie for third academically in his class of 175 students.

The damage done to his central nervous system has left Jacob's fine motor skills lacking, so he is granted a personal aide in the classroom who scribes much of his work.

"He is often up until midnight doing homework to keep up," says Karen, "but he doesn't stop to think whether he can or cannot do something. He just does it in his own way. It may not always be the way others do it, but Jacob always does his best."

It's that positive attitude that seems to have worked well for Jacob as he and his father worked their way through the succession of 10 Taekwondo belts at Carrillo's Martial Arts. The father and son began classes with Ray Carrillo about four years ago.

"Jacob has served as everyone's inspiration," says Carrillo. "He has a 'never-give-up' attitude that just never quits. I have used his example time and again in dealing with my students when they think they can't accomplish a goal. I just have them look at Jacob and what he has done against all odds. He is an amazing young man, and I couldn't be prouder of his achievements."

"I started going with Jacob," explains Kenny Mier, "as a way to get in some father-son time. I also knew it would be a great way for Jacob to stretch and strengthen his muscles, which could only help him walk better."

Jacob also looked to his health when deciding to take Taekwondo alongside his father. "I thought it would help me better control my disability. I never dreamed when I started that I could ever make it to a black belt, but as I kept going higher and higher on the colored belts, I began to realize that I might actually make it!"

Make it, he did. After more than four years, and in a four-hour-long test of skills that included breaking four boards in quick succession with his hands and feet, hand-to-hand combat, and a host of defensive moves, Jacob Mier earned a black belt in Taekwondo. Alongside seven other males, including his father, and one female, Jacob - who was never supposed to walk - ran to the front of the formation last Saturday afternoon and accepted his belt to the cheers of his proud parents, grandparents and a host of admirers.

"I know so many people look for a way to be termed, 'disabled,'" says Karen, "but Jacob has always just assumed that he would go to college, get a degree, and then find a job he enjoys. He is not hindered by his inability to do certain things. Jacob has always far exceeded what I thought he was capable of doing. Looking at what he has accomplished so far, he is my hero."