Posted on 05/31/2019 5:51:30 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Aubrey Garcia, a 7-year-old girl from Plainville, Kansas, had a crowd of people in tears of joy as she pushed her way through her first-ever track race, a 50-meter dash, on May 14.
Her mom, Chelsea Garcia, watched as Aubrey stumbled at one point, but kept going, her determined grit shining through as she pushed forward in her leg braces one step at a time.
“I don’t even know how to describe how we felt to watch her accomplish something like this,” she told Runner’s World. “It was just breathtaking to see something happen that you never thought you would witness.”
For Aubrey, the race represented victory over her battle with spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord doesn’t develop or close properly, according to the Mayo Clinic. Depending on severity, it could cause walking or mobility problems, as well as weakness in the leg and back muscles.
The day after Garcia’s 20-week ultrasound, they learned that doctors had found a fluid sac on Aubrey’s back, and one of the ventricles in her brain was enlarged—both common indicators of spina bifida. They were sent to a maternal fetal specialist, who confirmed the diagnosis.
“I was standing at my kitchen counter when my obstetrician called to give me the news, and I just remember how terrified I was having no knowledge on any of this. I then called her father and relayed the information to him,” Garcia says “We were both incredibly shocked and asking ourselves, ‘Why our daughter?’”
Aubrey had her first surgeries just 24 hours after she was born.
(Excerpt) Read more at runnersworld.com ...
Hank Williams had spina bifida. That is why he took so many pain pills.
Probably the combination of alcohol and pills was what killed one of the greatest artists ever. He never made it to 30.
Very inspiring. You go girl. 8>)
What courage! What joy!
Many are disappointed that she was not aborted when her affliction was discovered.
Wow. Never knew that about Hank Williams. Thanks for that. And major kudos to this girl.
I started out as a biology major, with medical school as a possible destination. That changed one day in upper division Genetics Laboratory. We watched a short film on Spina Bifida before getting to our day’s assignment with the ubiquitous Drosophila melanogaster.
As we worked, several students - women - asserted that the medical/scientific community must take control of society to sterilize people who were genetically predisposed to produce progeny with genetic defects like Down’s Syndrome or Spina Bifida.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I looked at the professor, who was standing at the head of the table, clearly paying attention. He had a benign approving smile on his face, although he said nothing. I changed my major shortly thereafter.
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