 |
Rosemarie Siggins from Pueblo, Colorado, is a car nut: she's been into cars, trucks and all things automotive since the age of three. She also has only half a body.
Born with a rare genetic condition that meant her legs were deformed and without sensation, Rose had her legs amputated as a young child. However, she is determined not to let this get in the way of living her life,
even giving birth to a healthy son seven years ago. When people ask her how she deals with her disability, she replies: "This is my reality. This is my normal.”
Rose is determined to live as a full and normal a life as possible. She uses her arms and hands to get around, travelling on a skateboard at times and driving a specially adapted car which she maneuvers using hand controls. She is grateful to her parents for making the difficult decision to have her legs amputated, rather than putting her in a wheelchair. Rose also chose not to wear the prosthetic legs her school wanted her to use, a decision which was supported by her parents. |
| In 1999 Rose married Dave, who she had met two years earlier. When Rose learned that she was pregnant, she received little support from the medical community since nobody with her genetic condition had ever
given birth before. Dr Wolfson was the only doctor not to recommend an abortion, but did warn Rose and Dave that her extraordinary and ground-breaking pregnancy was putting her life on the line. A caesarean was performed at the top of her uterus,
a more dangerous method of delivery, and a healthy boy named Luke was born. Rose recalls looking at her baby's feet and thinking: "He's complete; he's fine." Dr Wolfson considers Rose's pregnancy a miracle – as does Luke's proud mother.
Rose has lived her whole life weathering the stares of strangers and tries to protect her son from the cruelty of children by talking to his friends about her disability. She's had to learn from a young age that not everybody is going to accept her as she is: "That's what I had to learn when I was very young: maybe I won't be accepted and be beautiful on the outside, but the one thing I can do is be beautiful on the inside. I'm a one of a kind, one in a million – and they won’t forget me. |
 
|