In the Pipeline: More than just a day at the beach

Covey is an MRI technician who lives in Washington state, but he comes down to Huntington Beach every couple of months to spend time with his son, who lives here with his mom.

Anthony suffers from Angelman syndrome, which is a neuro-genetic disorder characterized by severe intellectual and developmental disability, seizures, sleep disturbances, frequent laughter or smiling and a usually happy demeanor. He also has cerebral palsy.

As we both watched the young boy crawl excitedly on his hands and knees toward the ocean, Covey told me that his son loves the beach and that it is good therapy for him. Being chased by the waves seems to make him happy, he explained, and even though Anthony can't speak, his various sounds and expressions seem to indicate joy.

Covey also shared that while Anthony cannot walk on his own, he does fairly well with assistance, but the seizures have been making things particularly tough, despite all the medications and therapy he receives.

We spoke a bit more before I left them to their beautiful afternoon by the sea, but the image of the two and this sacred bond was just so powerful that I thought it needed to be shared.

I rode my bike for about an hour or so in the opposite direction and on my return trip saw the pair again. This time they were back on the bike trail, probably more than a mile from where I originally had caught up with them. Covey was feeding his son a drink from a bottle of water.