Cristian Cedeño, who lost his arms in an accident, works hard washing vehicles and hopes to have a prosthesis to offer mechanical services at his store in Manta
Manta, MANABI
No barrier has been an impediment for Cristian Cedeño García. At 46 years old, he has tried to overcome the barriers that destiny imposed on him.
Eleven years ago, the man was helping a neighbor to change the roof of a house when his arms accidentally ran into a high-tension cable in the old sector where he lived, in the La Pradera citadel, in eastern Manta. That caused him to lose most of his arms.
However, Cedeño was not daunted, he changed his address and now resides in the Las Cumbres citadel, in the south of Manta. With studies in automotive mechanics at the Ecuadorian Training Service (Secap), his dream was to set up a place related to vehicle service. "But sometimes the goals are not met, for some reason, but here we go," he said.
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In recent years, his neighbors took him to wash boats in the port of Manta, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused all activity to be limited, and he too was left without work. "I couldn't stay like this, and I had to start building a place to wash cars, and that's how I started last October (2020), with the help of my family," he said.
Last Thursday a video of his activity went viral. Víctor Salazar recorded with his phone when he observed Cristian with a cardboard sign on his chest and introduced him to his car wash business.
Salazar shared the video made to Cristian on the Facebook page, El Solador de Negocios, and from there little by little Cedeño's life has begun to change. Until the morning of this Monday the 27th, the publication has had more than 165,000 reactions and has been shared around 90,000 times.
“I was on the street of the Interbarrial de Manta, with a sign and we were surprised to see a person with this type of special abilities and we brought the car and they washed it in a way that surprised me. He is an example of a person for all of us because of the skill that he demonstrates and the faith that he injects into us, ”said Salazar.
The dissemination of the video attracted Jonathan Paredes to take his car to the Cedeño car wash, located on 12 de Octubre and 224 streets, in the Las Cumbres neighborhood, near the health subcenter of that neighborhood.
Cedeño continues the car wash with impetus. On his shoulders he places the hose he uses to wash the vehicles, and guides his children and his wife, Martha Delgado, to complete the entire cleaning work of the car.
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Despite his unshakeable faith, Cristian wants to fulfill basic daily aspects such as feeding himself and cleaning himself, because his guide in this and other activities is his wife, Martha, who also gives him emotional support. "He's not down for anything, and he sees to it that the cars are cleaned properly," Martha said.
For this reason, Cristian wants to have prostheses in his upper extremities and thus be able to offer auto mechanic services in his current car wash, and not only improve his economic condition but also be able to employ more people.
"I never thought that the video would go viral, because I know little about it, but the only thing I'm looking for is not that they give me alms or anything, I just want people to come to my business to wash their car, and if someone wants to help me well, welcome be with the support of my God”, said Cedeño, while observing that the car of one of his clients was impeccable.
Cristian's workshop, known as the Crismar automotive workshop, is located in the Las Cumbres neighborhood on 12 de Octubre and 224 streets. You can contact him by calling 099-451-6608 and thus be served by a man who knows no barriers in life.
Entities manage prosthetics for Cedeño
A hope and encouragement for his life received Cristian Cedeño, who more than a decade ago after an electric shock lost his arms, because through a management of the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) before the Rotary club of Manta, it is managed and to the donation of prostheses that help improve their work.
Ana Cristina Intriago, district director of the MIES in Manta, pointed out that the Rotary club of this city is seeking the provision of prostheses, which would possibly be delivered next Saturday, October 2.
Ella intriago declared that everything related to the adaptation process of these orthopedic replacements of Cedeño's arms will be planned.
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The MIES tried to channel other aid such as the delivery of the Joaquín Gallegos Lara program voucher, however the disability card granted by the Ministry of Public Health reduced it from 75% to 70% of disability a few years ago, with which it did not you can access this state aid.
“The man to proceed to a bonus of the Joaquín Gallegos Lara mission has to be with a disability card, but the quintile has it as he wants at 70% disability, and it has to be 75%, because they evaluated him and that The Ministry of Public Health does it,” said Intriago. For his part, Cedeño corroborated that decrease in the percentage of disability.
Intriago declared that at the moment the important thing has been the achievement through management of something that in eleven years had not materialized, the prostheses that orthopedically replace the arms that Cedeño lost due to an electric shock while helping a neighbor to change a roof . (I)