That John was odd is a fact about which there was no doubt. That he was ungainly looking, awkward, socially inept and of limited intelligence was also obvious. John was in fifth year when I met him. His mother had brought him to the office because she was alarmed about his “preoccupation” with helicopters. It seems his teachers had expressed concerns about John’s constant reference to the helicopter which followed him to school each day. They were also concerned because John’s fellow students in school were intolerant of him, occasionally verbally abusive to him and had “set him up” on numerous occasions, at one time encouraging him to sing the national anthem aloud during prayer time in an assembly.

John’s one friend in school was Mr. O’Reilly, his English teacher. O’Reilly was a young lad who had only completed his teacher training the year before. O’Reilly was from a large family, born in rural Ireland he was the youngest and had been adored by his mother and father. O’Reilly was a kind and decent man who had seen life’s difficulties up close and person. One of his brothers was incarcerated for car theft, a sister had moved to England after having giving birth to her third child by her third partner (the other two children were fathered by each of her two other partners) and he had an older brother who spent years in an out of a psychiatric hospital. As a result of this unusual, but rich and loving family background, O’Reilly was sensitive and tolerant to difference. Of all the teachers in the school he alone recognised something essentially good and decent about John.

My first impression of John was that he was unusual odd looking. Tall and gangly with a face studded with bad acne and teeth that seemed to protrude from every corner of his mouth he sat gazing upward in his chair. His mother introduced him saying that he was shy and didn’t quite understand why he was here. Despite this acknowledgment of his shyness John was eager to talk, rose to greet me and shook my hand warmly. “Are you afraid of helicopters?” was his introductory remark to me. As we walked to the office to have a chat I could not help but notice that John was constantly staring at the ceiling.

John spoke freely about his experiences in secondary school. He talked about the number of lads who laughed at him, who encouraged him to do things he really didn’t want to do, like singing aloud during prayer time. He talked about his teachers who, according to him, either didn’t care to notice he was in the room or dismissed him as being a slow learner. He mentioned several staff members who were kind and gentle and who went out of their way to wish him good morning and inquire about his family. “There are a lot of good teachers in my school. Some are a bit cranky all right, but a lot of them are just trying to do their job. It isn’t easy when a lot of kids are acting the maggot in class.” As he talked about his teachers and the “…nice lady who gives me a cup of tea in the parent’s room…” he began to cry.

Through his tears John began to talk about Mr. O’Reilly. “That teacher is the best, he understands me. He told me that if I go for help the helicopter would go away and I won’t hear those noises all the time. He even told me, and I’m not supposed to say this, that he has a brother who had a problem just like mine and that he got help in a hospital. Don’t tell anyone I told you that please.” After further questioning it became clear that John was an adolescent with schizophrenia. He was having auditory hallucinations, believed there was a helicopter following him everywhere, even into school and was frightened and anxious all the time.

John ended up in hospital of course, was given the appropriate medication and his hallucinations went away. In the day room, once every week, there was a bingo game. Every week Mr. O’Reilly came and visited John, playing bingo with him. One week’s prize was New York Yankee’s baseball cap that had been on display all week long before bingo. John loved that cap, he lived for it, it was all he could talk about for the week. He even phoned Mr. O’Reilly once, with permission of course, and told him about the cap and how much he wanted to win it at bingo. That week Mr. O’Reilly turned up as usual. Throughout the bingo game all John talked about was the baseball cap. O’Reilly thought John mustn’t be taking his medication!

John won the baseball cap that week. He was in floods of tears walking up to the bingo table to collect it. He looked at it as if it was made of solid gold. Walking back to his chair he held it in his hands, just looking at it. Mr. O’Reilly told him to put it on. But John said, “No, I want you to have it because you were always nice to me” and gave it to O’Reilly. O’Reilly is 35 now, with a family of his own. He lost track of John years ago. O’Reilly has the baseball cap proudly displayed in his classroom and often mentions a very unusual boy named John who taught him a lesson about life and the importance of kindness.

David J. Carey, Psy.D.
297 Beechwood Court
Stillorgan
Dublin, Ireland
http://www.davidjcarey.com

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