The Girl Who Became Paralyzed Before Her Wedding: "If I Had One Wish, I Wouldn't Wish to Walk, But to Be Happy"

"Mr. Schechter, I regret to be the one to give you such news, but I'll speak honestly. The situation, as it stands, is". The doctor swallows hard for the tenth time in the last minute. "Unfortunately, at this moment, it appears that the situation is---". A deep breath. "Your daughter is completely paralyzed from the neck down".

What?????? Dear Hashem, make it so the sky doesn't fall------

The doctor speaks quietly, almost in a whisper. He fights back the tears forming in his eyes. He must remain factual. "That means she won't be able to move any of the four limbs, except for some movement of the head and neck. Unfortunately, for now, this includes the diaphragm and breathing muscles, so she'll need artificial respiration. As I mentioned earlier, there might be reversible damage, but I suggest you prepare for all possibilities until proven otherwise".

These chilling sentences you just read are from the book 'Even Though I Walk' by author Libby Klein. For nearly a year, Libby worked on writing the book that grows even more intriguing, as Gitty, the story's protagonist, is a nineteen-year-old girl engaged to be married, whose life takes a sudden turn after a car accident leaves her permanently disabled.

Libby Klein succeeded in delving deep into the soul of Gitty and her future partner, posing the difficult dilemma—whether to break the engagement or not?

Libby wrote over 800 pages in her book 'Even Though I Walk', but among all the remarkable situations mentioned in the book, the most fascinating one occurred after its publication. "I attended a family event," she tells us, "and met my sister-in-law who told me she read the book and found it very moving, and then she asked me: 'And what does Bat Chen say about the story?' I didn't understand what she wanted and asked her: 'Who is Bat Chen?' And she just replied: 'You know, Bat Chen Elishewitch, the one you wrote the book about'".

At that moment, Libby says she nearly fainted as she realized something incredible—the book she labored over all year, a product of her imagination, was entirely real. It turned out that in the city of Petah Tikva lives a woman named Bat Chen Elishewitch, whose life story is eerily similar to Gitty's, as she too at age 19 faced a life-altering accident just before her engagement to the man who would become her husband.

"I Couldn't Imagine Not Dancing at My Wedding"

"It was simply insane," says Bat Chen, now 25. "Because at 19 my life changed in an instant. Until then, I was a regular girl studying physical education and involved in dancing, but after a car accident, I was severely injured in my spine. Initially, they said I would be paralyzed from the neck down, but in time, thank Hashem, I started using my hands, and now my hands are functional".

Not only are Bat Chen's hands active, but she is also active, pursuing a master's degree in social work, happily married to a wonderful husband, and raising two sweet children.

Bat Chen also testifies that she was in total shock when she discovered that someone had written a book nearly matching her life story. She learned of the astonishing revelation one day when her husband mentioned someone wanted to meet him to hand over a book. It was Libby's husband.

"I cried when I read the book," she shares emotionally, "it was incredible because the details in the book were eerily similar to my story. Everything happened to Gitty, the book's protagonist, at 19, just like me, and the vertebra that was injured for Gitty was exactly the same one I had injured, the first thing done to me at the hospital was spleen removal surgery, and exactly that is written in Gitty's book. On one page, I read how Gitty's favorite melody was 'Yedid Nefesh', and I was entirely moved because that's my favorite tune too. It's unbelievable".

Libby adds: "What amazed me, even more than all the accurate and true technical details, was the fact that I struck the emotions of the couple so closely because Bat Chen told me that her husband read the book and couldn't believe his ears. He said to her: 'How did the author know exactly what I went through in those moments when you were in intensive care? I couldn't even find words for my feelings".

What was the most accurate part of the entire story?

They look at each other and then answer with surprising accuracy: "The wedding." And Bat Chen explains: "Among all the challenges, the wedding was the greatest. I couldn't picture myself rolling into the chuppah in a wheelchair; I didn't see myself dancing with my hands instead of my feet. Then an idea occurred to me—I wore braces on my legs and managed to stand supported for the photos. Of course, this required a lot of training and physiotherapy, but here it was possible".

The most amazing part was that the brace solution was also written in the book... "It was absolutely crazy", Libby says, "because I kept telling myself that I couldn't imagine a wedding without a bride standing, so I systematically avoided writing about the wedding. But in a later section, I returned to the wedding and then mentioned the solution of the braces as well... because it was clear to me that a solution had to be found for this complex issue".

But how did you really manage to understand what a girl in such a situation goes through? How did you write all these things?

"It's a valid question because thank Hashem, I have never experienced what a disabled person has gone through, and no close family member has had such an experience, but as my kids said when I started writing— 'Hashem is writing a book for mom', and that's how I truly felt. I felt that Hashem was writing the book through me. I have no other explanation".

Libby also adds with emotion: "Understand that this was the first book I published. I had not written any book before, I was not in the writing profession, I was a teacher altogether. But following some personal struggles in life, I felt I needed therapy, and this book turned out to be the best solution for me..."

I Asked Her: "Write Only Good Things"

As soon as Libby finished writing the first book, she began the second in the series. "I received responses that warmed my heart," she recounts, "and many people wanted to know: What happened to the couple afterward? Then I thought to myself that I also wanted to know what happened to them, I was curious too, and that's what led to writing the second part— 'For You Are With Me', and then the third in the series— 'Only Goodness and Kindness'."

Writing in the last two books was particularly fascinating. "In these books, I already knew I was writing about a couple existing somewhere in the world, so I periodically sent Bat Chen sections from the books, for her to see, just for the curiosity. But the great miracle was that almost always, she'd return surprised, saying: 'Listen, this happened to me exactly today'. For example, one day while writing about Gitty, the book's heroine, falling from her chair and waiting hours for help to get up, it turned out that Bat Chen had experienced the same fall that day.

"I remember one day simply asking Libby: Write only good things," Bat Chen laughs, "because I realized everything she wrote simply happened in reality."

For the last two years, Libby and Bat Chen have been conducting shows where they share their touching and unbelievable story, filled with humor, emotion, and faith. "At the end of the show," Libby shares, "I always emphasize and tell the audience that if someone wakes up tomorrow morning and tells herself, 'If Bat Chen smiles when she wakes up in the morning, then surely I can smile too', then it means she missed the point. Because this is not the message we aim to convey. Smiling because someone in the world suffers more than you is not heroism; our goal is to pass the message of faith, that everyone, at every stage of life, should believe that Hashem grants them the strength for their challenge, and they are given the most special powers designed just for them, that's our focus".

The message is transparently conveyed in one of the last paragraphs of the book and thus concludes the performance:

"Meir, you know," Gitty suddenly wants to share, "if I were given a chance now to make one wish, like in the fairy tales, do you know what wish I would choose?"

Meir thinks he knows. He is sure he knows. Gitty always asks such questions, seemingly out of nowhere. Only seemingly.

"Which one?" he plays along.

"To be happy in any circumstance".

He is surprised.

"Not to walk?!" he cannot stop the astonishment. After all, despite everything, if Gitty could walk—life would be perfect.

The car stands at the light. Gitty meets Meir's gaze.

She feels this is an important moment. It is the truth of her life, what leads and sustains and directs.

"Meir, look around you, is everyone who walks happy???" Gitty is powerful. Like Gitty. This insight shakes her from the inside. "Happiness shouldn't depend on anything, and nothing should change it for better or worse", she concludes.

For contact with Libby and Bat Chen:libbyklein23@gmail.com