'Barriers mean nothing': West Palm teen poised to become Eagle Scout despite deafness

WEST PALM BEACH — Emmanuel Parker strode into the NICU at St. Mary's Medical Center with his care packages in tow and his merit badges on his chest, each step taking him closer to a goal some people considered impossible.

The joyful teen, a ceaseless smile crowning his nearly perfect posture, has prevailed through 78 blood transfusions and 40 surgeries in his 15 years. He hasn't let any of them stop him from hiking, camping and swimming his way toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

The final step a teen must take toward earning Scouting's highest rank is to complete a community service project. The Jupiter High School student let his project take him back to where his own story began: a neonatal intensive-care unit, where doctors and nurses care for struggling newborns.

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Emmanuel, who goes by "Manny," weighed only 1 pound, 4 ounces at birth and doctors diagnosed him completely deaf 15 months later. He spent almost an entire year in the NICU at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, as his mother, Erika Garrett, prayed over him each day.

But on Sept. 15, his own story didn't matter. He beamed with each step across the hospital halls, passing out red bags full of snacks, toiletries, coffee, tea, cream and Bibles to families with babies in the NICU and to the nurses, on what happened to be National Neonatal Nurses Day.

Manny’s persistence should soon make him one of the few deaf teens nationwide to become an Eagle Scout. He'll be the first hearing-impaired one of African-American descent in Florida. And his leader from his Cub Scout days couldn't be prouder — or less surprised.

“The young man cannot hear and has some physical limitations, but he has overcome every single one of them,” former Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Moses Baker Jr. said. “There isn’t anything that he can’t do. All of us at some point knew that Manny was going to become an Eagle Scout.”

A climb up a rock wall showed Manny Parker's grit

Manny joined the Cub Scouts at age 9, becoming part of Pack 116, which was chartered by Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, where he and his mother live. Scouting was first his mom’s idea so that Manny would make some more friends outside of school, but Manny soon fell in love with it.

He became the first deaf Black Scout to earn the Arrow of Light rank, which is the highest rank that a Cub Scout can reach. Baker said he will never forget Manny’s first camping trip to Camp Tanah Keeta in Martin County, where he learned to shoot an arrow, climb rocks and wield a BB gun.

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“When our scouts came to the rock climbing wall, most of them couldn’t make it to the top,” Baker said. “That day, I believe Manny was the only one who did. He did not give up until he made it to the top of that wall.”

Manny even taught some of his troop members sign language.

"Manny has something more than just simple determination," Baker said. "There is something inside of him that drives him and pushes him to be exceptional in everything he does."

The project will return him to the NICU where he spent his first weeks

Eagle Scout is the highest Scouting rank attainable, with only about 6% of the over 1 million Scouts earning the designation, according to Boy Scouts of America.

Manny decided quickly what his service project would be. He wanted to offer families the staples that his mother “lived off of” while he was in the NICU for his community service project.

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Manny started collecting donations from friends, family and local businesses in August to get supplies for care packages he delivered to families with babies in the NICU.

“It was just so fitting that Emmanuel did this project because he is a giver and a helper,” Garrett said as tears welled in her eyes. “He has always liked helping people, especially babies.”

Manny also plans to travel to his birthplace to deliver 50 additional care packages to families at The John Hopkins Hospital in December. He is still collecting donations.

“If you look at Emmanuel, you will see his battle scars,” Garrett said. “But I knew that God had a plan for Manny when he was born.”

Manny, who wears a cochlear implant, greeted nurses and parents with a firm handshake and a warm smile as he presented care packages to them on Friday. His grandparents and mother applauded and looked on with pride.

Ariana Castillo de la Rosa and Enrique Cabanas Fernandez of Royal Palm Beach have had a baby boy in the NICU for the past six weeks. Manny’s care package came as a pleasant surprise.

“We’re young and this is a lot for us,” Fernandez said. “Any help that we get means a lot. We weren’t expecting this.”

Scouting official on Manny Parker: 'Barriers mean nothing'

Renee Holloway, director of nursing at St. Mary’s NICU, noted that the care packages landed on National Neonatal Nurses Day. She couldn’t think of a better way to mark it.

"It’s really rewarding to see a baby who started out at one pound grow into a wonderful 15-year-old who can accomplish great things, such as becoming an Eagle Scout,” she said.

Manny will present his service project to the local Boy Scouts of America board in October. After he receives their approval, he will officially become an Eagle Scout.

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Like Baker, Tess English, the operations chief for the Boy Scouts Gulf Stream Council, is hardly surprised that Manny is about to become an Eagle Scout.

Every Eagle Scout must complete a 60-mile hike, swim or bike over a span of five days. While Parker couldn’t complete this in that span of time due to an issue with his coordination, he visited local parks to walk 1 or 2 miles each day for a month until he completed the task, she said.

“Barriers mean nothing to Manny,” English said. “If you say that something might be a barrier to him, he doesn’t care. He walks right through it like it’s nothing.”

Someday soon, he’ll step away from uncharted territory, having made Eagle Scout history.

Maya Washburn is a reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Deaf Florida teen poised to become Eagle Scout