Katie's Story

Most people take standing upright for granted. Katie does not. She was born with a severely cleft palate and multiple head and facial deformities. She was missing fingers and toes, and had so many physical handicaps that dramatic reconstructive surgeries have characterized most of her young life. Doctors never expected her to live, but at age eight, Katie is a modern day miracle. She came to the Pediatric Center as a new born infant and has been involved in the Coleman School 's therapy education programs her whole life. From the very beginning there was something different about Katie. She had an incredible will to live and a resolve to overcome her disabilities. Doctors believe Katie cannot hear, see or speak, but her teachers know otherwise. When they say, "Hi, Katie!" a little girl who is supposed to be incapable of communication, smiles and repeats her own name. Though she spent most of her life reclining in a specially adapted wheel chair, she can now sit up, stand, and even walk under her own strength. Katie's disabilities threatened to destroy her, but she proves everyday that within the confines of her crippled body lives a spirit that is strong enough to overcome any obstacle.

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