For Oscar Foster life has flourished
The first time Oscar Foster came to the United States from his native Guatemala, it was to make sure he could eventually walk. The second time, it was so that his young life could take flight.
The Liberty High School senior was born with a rare, nonhereditary birth defect known as Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency, PFFD for short.
“I was born without a right femur,” he explained. “And I had left hip dysplasia – I’ve had numerous surgeries on my left hip. I also had a clubfoot for a left foot.”
Don and Sara Foster entered his life when they brought him to Spokane from his Guatemalan orphanage for surgery at Shriners Hospital for Children to correct his clubfoot. The couple, who have three sons, fostered children with medical challenges.
“My parents said they just fell in love with me,” Foster said. “For the next couple years I was back and forth between here and the orphanage in Guatemala for surgeries.
“When I was 4, my birth mother decided to give me up for adoption and my foster parents were the first ones in line to adopt me. I became a legal citizen of the United States when I was 4 years old.”
The list of surgeries Oscar Foster has undergone is long – seven in all.
“I’ve gotten to know the people at Shriners really well,” he laughs. “They’re great people.”
Foster’s left arm has an elbow, but no joint. The pinkie finger on his left hand fused with the finger bone next to it and moves in tandem with his ring finger.
His right leg was amputated just above his knee, and he has been fitted with a prosthetic leg.
“For most things, I walk,” he said, “but if I have to travel a long distance, I use a wheelchair.”
The family moved to Fairfield about 10 years ago, but Foster maintained strong ties in Spokane. When Foster gets involved in something, he dives in. No wading allowed.
It started with Team St. Luke’s, a sports program for physically challenged youths.
“I started off playing wheelchair basketball there,” he said. “Then I started to try new things and got involved with track and field and swimming. I competed for about three years on the junior national level.”
That involvement led to his work with last year’s National Junior Wheelchair Championships in Spokane.
“I was one of the main volunteers for that event,” Foster said. “I guess I have a gift for organizing, and they really let me run with it. That’s pretty much how I spent my summer last year.”
At Liberty, one of his teachers suggested he get involved with Future Business Leaders of America during his junior year. Before long he was a state vice-president for the Northeast Region, helping to coordinate and organize conferences for students and business leaders in the Spokane Area and help coordinate the state conference.
“That experience helped me learn how to be a leader,” he said. “Not only that, but how to be a good leader.”
Foster’s passion, however, lies in music.
“When I first came to this country, my parents’ youngest son, Matt, was really into music,” Oscar said. “I don’t remember it, but my dad found a picture of Matt working on something on the piano and me sitting next to him. He was my first musical influence.”
When the family moved to Fairfield, Oscar began eight years of piano lessons and Musicfest competitions.
“The pastor’s wife at the church we go to, Latah Country Bible Church, is a pretty accomplished singer,” he said. “She told me I have a nice voice.”
Classical voice lessons followed. Foster has been an integral member of the Liberty High School choir all four years. All four years he’s auditioned for the Washington Music Educators Association All-State Honor Choir; all four years he was accepted.
“They have 1,200 entrants for that choir every year,” he explained. “Only the top 300 make it in.
“It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience. Every year the conductor picks out a piece of music for us to work on and perform that ends up sending a chill up my back. To hear 300 incredible voices sing together is so worth the hard work it takes to get there.
“What I love about music is the way that allows you to reach people. You can move people through music, even if they don’t understand the words. That’s powerful.”
Foster will attend George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., in the fall. He plans to study music and is considering pre-law.
“I’m torn between the two right now,” he said. “On the one hand, I can have a good career in law, but my passion is music. People tell me to follow what you love and you’ll always be happy. That’s tempting. I’d like to come back and teach chorus at the high school level, then maybe get a professorship somewhere.”
Beyond college, Foster said, he has one other goal. He wants to re-establish contact with his birth family.
“I don’t have any communication with my birth parents,” he said. “That’s one of my big goals in life – to track down and get in touch with my birth family. My birth mother stayed in touch for the first year I was here, but she stopped. I understand that I have five siblings, and I was the middle child. I’d like to meet my brothers and sisters.”
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