Helen the Baby Fox

When I saw this trailer, I was moved to tears non-stop in my office! When I saw a vet clapping his hands in front of the fox while causing others in vicinity to get startled, I could imagine my time when I first came to this world, being oblivious to all sounds for a first few years. I could remember vividly that my dad put on something on my ears and suddenly there was something which was felt like pricking inside my ear. I could not comprehend and repeated pricking on my both ears did not abate. I did not know the real meaning of sound which was a totally new and incomprehensible dimension to me. Then my dad came into my vision and pointed to his ears. He clapped his hands again and that pricking "object" finally made a sense to me.

SOUND.

My ears finally breathed to alive with my hearing aids. That was my very first time in my life which I could distinguish and comprehend the sound as part of my sensory senses. All through first 2 years, I had been living in the silent world which was like I was groping in the darkness until the sound redeemed me from the silent world forever. I could not remember the earlier time when my mom used to tell me that when I was 1 year old, my parents tried to grab my attention by using the bells, wok and all kinds of objects to make sound. And yet I remained oblivious to any sounds and I could imagine the anguish and disappointment written all over their faces. In their mind, what would my future as a deaf person be like when I grew up?

5 years later, my parents finally sent me to the deaf school and it was the very first time in my life to be in contact with the same kind of people as me. All of them wore bulky hearing device with unsightly tubes emanating from their earpieces to the hearing box in front of them. My mom told me that the moment they saw deaf children signing, she could not control her tears. She was totally confused whether she should be happy for me that there were some people who faced same situation as me. Or rather she could not accept the fact that I was deaf who had to use sign language for my whole life. To her, it was like a chasm being separated between her and I, where I was standing on the other end of the chasm. She could not reach me from her end and the chasm seemed to be widening non-stop until the point where I appeared to be a dot to her.

Until now, I have grown up and I still asked my mom a question about her worry for me when I was young. She still repeated her point that "When you were small, I wondered what will happen to you when we are getting older and could not take care of you. I worry how you can survive in this world. For the past 10 years, I kept on worrying about you. But only when you have shown me that you have learnt to steer your life, I become less worried about you. It is a peace of mind to me."

Perhaps that "unknown pricking object" could be a greatest turning point in my life where I learnt to navigate through my life as a deaf person. I finaly came to terms with my inherent gift. It was definitely a biggest and beautiful gift to me that I learn to appreciate nuances of Life and accept all kinds of challenges being hurled upon me. Anyway, this story about the Helen the baby fox strikes a chord in me where the baby fox and I had to learn to live with its disability in this world which is replete with love and hatred, happiness and sorrow, laughters and tears, loyalty and betrayal and so on.

It is about a boy who discovered a baby fox who is oblivious to the surrounding and later on he discovered that this baby fox turns out to be blind, deaf and mute. And it chronicles his life being interwined with the baby fox and it is certainly a moving and heartwarming story. The name "Helen" for the baby fox was named after the famous deaf, dumb and blind female activist "Helen Keller".


Here is the synopsis of this story "Helen the Baby Fox"

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Introduction :
A young boy finds a deaf, blind and numb baby fox, lost from its parents in the wilderness. Based on a true story, a heartwarming story of the care and love of the boy and a vet who try to save the baby fox.

Story:
Taichi, a young boy who has just arrived from the big city, discovers a `northern fox' puppy crouching near the side of the road and despite the objections of those around him, decides to take care of the charming creature... But, somehow the baby fox puppy cannot see, cannot hear and cannot bark. The baby fox, now named `Helen,' responds to Taichi's devoted efforts to care for her and begins to strive to live. The boy and his veterinarian family watch over her with encouragement and love. The story is based on an incident actually experienced by TAKETAZU Minoru, who is involved in wildlife conservation in Hokkaido. This charming animal story is deeply moving...perhaps to the point of tears.

The baby fox was named "Helen," after Helen Keller.