Frost begins new campaign to help hearing- and visually-impaired kids

When Frost went down to Cancun in 2008, it was for nothing more than a vacation to relax following a busy summer training for Paralympic rowing. But Frost – who has Usher’s Syndrome, a degenerative condition that gradually reduces sight and hearing – wound up meeting 11-year-old Alfredo, a boy with no ability to hear or speak.

When Frost returned to Mexico a couple months ago, it was more of a business trip as he spoke to a University of Mexico audience about his story, recounting how Alfredo’s life changed once he got hearing aids – the result of Frost’s fundraising efforts. “I wasn’t worried about the presentation,” Frost notes. “My goal was to come out of there so that they could help their own people.”

Several students volunteered to help Alfredo with follow-up treatments for speech therapy, and Frost also received assurances that others will be onboard to assist the three other youngsters he wants to help next.

One of them is seven-year-old Alejandro, who was abandoned by his parents at age five and had a tumour in his eye that was five inches round. Alejandro had an operation that removed part of the tumour, but needs another to be able to see again.

Manuel, 12, has two holes in his eardrums and needs proper hearing aids or an expensive procedure to regain his hearing.

And Paulina, 19, was diagnosed with glaucoma four years ago and is almost totally blind. An operation could help bring more of her vision back, although there could be complications since she also has toxoplasmosis.

Regardless, Frost would like to raise funds so her quality of life could be helped with aids such as a voice-activated computer or other services unavailable in her isolated town. “It’s like no-man’s land up there,” says Frost, who visited Alfredo’s small community. “That’s the reality when you’re 100 miles from Cancun.”

Frost estimates he’ll need to raise $6,000 to pay for the youths’ expenses, which aren’t covered by the Mexican healthcare system. “Here in Canada, we have things set up to pay for that. There, it doesn’t work that way,” Frost notes. “I said, ‘What if I didn’t raise those funds?’ and they said, ‘Well, they’d be stuck like that for the rest of their life.’”

The knowledge that there are ways available to help the three youngsters is part of what motivates Frost. “It rips my heart out,” he adds. “The least I can do is offer this little service that can change their life. You can’t put a dollar on people’s lives. You can’t put a dollar on bringing back someone’s vision or hearing. These people deserve a second chance.”

Frost believes he will be able to reach his fundraising goal based on how the community stepped up in the past to support initiatives such as helping out Lisa Cater, an Orléans teen who needed treatment for a tumour in the U.S.

Already, Frost was given Mexican shoe bags from a lady in Beacon Hill to sell for the fundraiser, and is on the lookout for other ideas to support the cause.