The Mute Crippel

Christy Brown was born in Dublin in 1932, and made famous by the Movie named after his book,  My Left Foot portrayed by actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

He was born into an Irish family of 15 children total;  his body was crippled with cerebral palsy as the result of a breeched birth.  The only part of his body he could move was his left foot.

His brothers and sisters loved him and never treated him as if he was disabled.  Christy did not speak, his Doctors considered him to be an idiot cripple.  His loving mother read to him and taught him using chalk to write out the letters of the alphabet on the floor.

He was stuck in a body that did not work.

His brain, arms and legs did not cooperate.

He lived within himself not being
able to communicate with others.

When he wrote the letter A on the floor for his mother,  the family celebrated their brother could understand and had the potential to communicate.

Christy Brown learned how to type with his big toe, to paint,  to hold a book for reading, to eat an apple and to play piano with his left foot.

Christy wrote,  “With writing, I could think, live and create.”  He used a special typewriter with large keys, and typed out each letter of each word, stroke by stroke with his big toe of his left foot.

 Christy went on,  “I was trapped and chained in the prison of my body.”  Crooked limbs created a crooked view of self and life.

One of the ways he dealt with his depression, was to self-mediate with drinking whiskey as he wrote; he was a serious drinker.  Mr. Brown did marry and produced a novel and books of poetry and a legacy of paintings before his death in 1981.

Christy Brown became a voice for the voiceless,  which helped guide the principals of the Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation  (UPIAS).

He died at age 49, in 1981,  choking on a dinner of lamb chops.  His legacy is one of resilience, strength and willpower; one who became a voice for the disabled voiceless.