Roman's Story

Meet Roman.

Roman is 10 years old and he is a very active member of the Ron Edwards Family YMCA.

Roman is also autistic, anaphylactic to dairy, wheat, eggs, and sesame, and had a very severe speech delay.  

“We started coming about six months before COVID and we loved it so much,” says Roman’s mother, Hiromi.

This is also when Roman started seeing a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)

“Working with his speech therapist coupled with being at the YMCA helped his speech immensely because of the socializing opportunities and the positive and inclusive environment,” she says.

“I love how welcoming the Y is. Just the fact that we can communicate with the staff and they’re so accommodating with the sports, activities, art programs—everything.”

Roman participates in a number of activities at the YMCA. He’s enrolled in swimming lessons, takes part in some of the Child and Youth sports and arts programs, and he is also part of a Y educational program.

It makes her happy to see her son participating in so many activities.

“I always feel safe when Roman is here,” she says. “They know that he has his strengths and challenges, and they work with his challenges instead of getting annoyed or upset.”

“I’ve never got the feeling that we were a burden.”

Hiromi says sometimes the activities can be overwhelming or too technical for Roman. She says the staff always work with Roman and his ebbs and flows.

“Sometimes Roman just needs to run around the gym. Other times he goes on his mat, and he’ll draw or play video games,” she says.

But he’s never out of the mix for long. Hiromi says Coach John or one of the teams will soon come over and ask Roman if he wants to throw a ball or play with them.

“I appreciate how they work with his rhythms,” she says.

Hiromi also appreciates how much care Y staff put into making sure Roman is safe, especially when it comes to his allergies.

“If they are using any ingredients in art projects, they will come and ask me to make sure it is safe for him, and if it’s not, they will find an alternative. The other day they did something with marshmallows, I was able to bring in ones that were safe for Roman.”

She says there is one specific time that the Y and the staff at the Ron Edwards Family YMCA went above and beyond to help her son.

It was half an hour before their Y program started and Hiromi gave Roman a new snack. She had checked the ingredients, but as the program was starting, Roman seemed to be feeling off, telling Hiromi that his throat and hands were itchy. 

She knew the signs of anaphylaxis immediately.

Roman threw up and a friend ran downstairs to grab a garbage bag while Hiromi injected his Epi-Pen. When the friend returned with the bag, she was followed by an army of Y employees.

“It was like The Avengers,” says Hiromi.

She gets emotional as she remembers how staff reacted to the emergency. “Bay came up right away to see if he was OK. Then the two lifeguards Logan and Randy were there to see if he was OK and in case he needed CPR.”

“And Bart, the caretaker, is so sweet. He didn’t get mad about having to clean up the mess. He said, ‘you just worry about your son.’”

The Epinephrin had done its job, and Roman was doing well, but to be safe, he and Hiromi went over to the hospital.

The next week when Roman returned, he was the most popular kid in the class.

“Everyone was high fiving him and asking if he was okay,” she says. “It’s just really nice how Roman feels like this is his safe space.”

What Hiromi is talking about is a testament to YMCA employees and how each one embodies the Y’s cores values – Caring, Honesty, Inclusion, Respect, Responsibility. 

“The program directors [share those values] and are role models for the teenagers and the teenagers are role models for the kids,” she says.

“They say everything trickles down from the top. I see how [everywhere in the organization] they foster community and diversity and openness."

#ShineOn #IgnitePotential #TheYSavesLives