DALLAS — With a top speed of six miles per hour, 20-year-old Watson Polk won’t be found racing down the back stretch of the local speedway. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try.
“Because I have a need,” Polk joked. “A need for speed.”
In the future, Polk, who lives in Aubrey, wants to work for Formula One Racing. Until then, nothing matches the thrill of his current job.
Polk was born with a rare metabolic disorder, Glutaric Acidemia type 1, or GA1. He lost all major motor skills at five months old. Despite the challenges, the disorder has in no way slowed him down.
With an augmentative and alternative communication device called eye gaze technology, Polk uses his eyes to piece together words and phrases on a screen, which then speaks for him.
That’s how he ended up at the Texas Woman’s University Stroke Center in Dallas.
“I invited Watson to my class and he started working with the clients and it was magical,” said Jyutika Mehta, director of the stroke center.
Patients who suffer traumatic brain injuries and can no longer speak often become frustrated and overwhelmed while learning to communicate with the technology, Mehta said.
Polk is helping them find their voice.
“I’ve had 20 years to get used to traumatic changes in my own life, so I like to relate to them and cheer them on,” Polk said through his eye gaze device.
Polk is often able to connect, Mehta says, in a way that borders on miraculous.
“They see him and it’s often life changing for them,” said Mehta.“He’s always smiling, he’s always cracking jokes.”
It’s almost as if Polk’s presence brings a kind of healing modern medicine can’t measure, Mehta said.
“I think God blessed me with an outlook that allows me to see the good in life,” said Polk.
Unfortunately, later this summer Polk is moving to Tennessee and leaving the stroke center behind. He’s hopeful, however, that he’s shown others they can go anywhere.
“I know I have physical limitations but it’s great to feel needed and use the gifts that I have to help others,” he said.
Living with purpose speaks for itself.