Impressive
Cross-posted from PoliBlog:
Via the LAT: Dream defies loss of limbs
Struck with a ravaging bacterial infection that destroys limbs, she became a triple amputee at age 8 and soon faced a life of prosthetics, wheelchairs and often-painful rehabilitation.
But from that suffering, Lim forged a life of achievement. On Friday, she will graduate from UCLA’s medical school and then will begin a residency program at the medical center there.
A remarkable achievement and a story about the power of determination:
Lim carried out her medical training with a determination that awed her professors and fellow students and won her the school’s top prize for excellence in pediatrics.
Opting not to use a prosthetic arm, she showed that she can perform most medical procedures with one hand, including taking blood and administering injections. She lives on her own in a Westwood apartment with no special features for the handicapped and drives a car with only one adaptation: a turning knob on the steering wheel. She is learning to swim, is trying horseback riding and even went tandem skydiving recently.
Lim, whose legs were amputated about 6 inches below her knees, gave up her wheelchair years ago and walks so well down the long and crowded hospital hallways — with a slightly bouncy stride — that new classmates and patients often don’t have a clue for weeks that artificial limbs fill her shoes and pant legs.
Truly remarkable.
My older sibling was born with cerebral palsy,poor eyesight, but a great I.Q. He graduated from a university with a Psychology degree, married and had children. He still resides in a wheelchair. Sadly, John is now battling brain cancer…. glioma, a carnivore of a cancer. I hope to see him make the fifty year mark next year.
But he is just a great guy. I have no use for homeless men with two good legs carrying signs begging for money. I think of my brother, and all he has accomplished despite the hurdles and it makes me very proud, to be his sister.
Tammy Swofford
My first reaction to the story was “Gee, it’s ironic that her name is Lim”