In praise of a Science Centre magician

The Ontario Science Centre is dedicated to, well, science. But sometimes magic can happen there, too. That was the case a few weeks ago when the centre’s “wandering lab magician” gave our daughter a reason to sparkle.

Many people tend to ignore our daughter, Taya. Maybe because she’s only 8, or maybe because she only comes up to waist level in her wheelchair, but we fear that she’s often ignored because most people don’t know how to act around her.

Taya was born with a rare condition called PURA syndrome. Because of a genetic “misspelling” of one “letter” on one DNA sequence in her fifth chromosome, she has a host of disabilities. She is, and probably always will be, non-verbal, non-ambulatory and unable to care for herself. Mentally, she will likely be stuck as an infant or a toddler her whole life.

All of this leaves many people unsure how to deal with her. But none of that stopped the Science Centre’s lab magician, who walked up to her at the end of a very long day, as the museum was closing, and made a ball appear behind Taya’s ear. Then he made it disappear into the top of her head, while simultaneously making one of her biggest smiles ever appear out of thin air and creating twinkles of delight in her eyes. (He also made tears appear in my wife’s eyes, a mixture of happiness and heartache.)

The magician didn’t draw back when Taya began drooling all over her hands, a clear indication of her joy. Instead, he spoke directly to her, and kept asking what made her so awesome. It was a very special moment for us. I hope he, and the entire city of Toronto, know what a blessing he and people like him are. Richard Gannon, Albion, N.Y.