God’s Got This; A Theme to Live By
Posted by Brian Buethe
on Oct 12, 2015
At the invitation of Rotarian Rachael Owens, of Sweet to Eat Bakery & Cake Shop in Ankeny, Jacob Johnson attended the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of West Polk County on October 12th, 2015. Jacob shared with the members the inspirational story about the life of Sean Nielsen (affectionately dubbed “Seaner) by his friends); the namesake of the Sean Nielsen Foundation.
Jacob described a little bit about Sean’s life; which by most standards was very tough at times. Within six hours Sean had to have heart surgery. This scenario played out again at six months, 13 months, and age four. Then, when he was five, it was discovered that Sean had a brain tumor.
All of these issues had a tremendous impact on his body, as you might expect, and as a result, he was a little bit different than the other kids. While children are the future, sometimes they can be a bit ruthless. It’s just the way it is. Unfortunately for Sean, the fact that he was different, sometimes resulted in him being the victim of bullying, name calling, and even physical abuse at the hands of his peers; the types of things that would leave most people jaded and angry. But Sean was not most people.
Despite all of this abuse and being dealt a pretty terrible deck of cards in the game of life, he stayed positive and often stated “God’s got this.” He had an amazing trust in a higher power, that despite his difficult circumstance, that someone else is in control and will help him get through it. The good news is that Sean came through these difficult times thanks to his faith and support from his family and his church. In fact, as more people got to know Sean, the more they began to appreciate him.
He attended Valley High School in West Des Moines, where he was ultimately named “The King of Hearts” by his peers, an amazing honor. He was an athlete who participated in the Special Olympics. After high school he helped out at Simpson College, where he was well received. He also worked at Target in Urbandale, where he was an appreciated asset in the audio/visual department.
Sean passed away a couple years ago, but his legacy lived on in the establishment of the Sean Nielsen Foundation. The foundation helps people get access to Special Needs Camp, they offer assistance to those seeking to gain independence in the community, they have started a buddy program (SMILE), and they help families plan for future needs. The Foundation is relatively young and they are still learning new ways to assist.
If you would like to know more about the Sean Nielsen Foundation, please visit their website HERE. The members of the Rotary Club of West Polk County were glad to learn more about this remarkable organization. We are grateful to Jacob Johnson for sharing Sean’s story with us. It is our hope that we can all live with an attitude and a faith exemplified by Sean.