From Russia with Love

Olena

Early in my career a 20 year old woman from Russia with an amazing story of tragedy and triumph became a patient of mine. From the first visit to the last when she was sent back to the Ukraine, she taught me many valuable lessons.
Olena was born in the Ukraine before Perestroika.  The country was impoverished and all social services were greatly limited. Anyone born with a physical handicap was a drain on the system and their lives were considered to be of less value. 
Born with arms that did not develop below the wrists and legs that did not grow below the knees,  the hospital officials thought she would not live.  They told her mother that Olena did not survive the birthing and sent her home with empty arms and a heavy heart.
However, Olena not only survived but adapted to her limitations by becoming quite self sufficient.  She scooted everywhere on her underdeveloped limbs and could even hoist herself up onto counters.
The orphanage could not keep people past the age of 18 so you can imagine the shock that her mother experienced when told that her daughter was alive and that she must come and take her home. She collapsed at the news. When she finally saw her daughter for the first time, Olena was on her skateboard; that was how she got around.  She also had shoes on the ends of her legs because she wanted to cover up her stumps.
A local church group doing mission work in the Ukraine brought her to Ocala, FL and I became a part of the team along with Dr. Brill, the orthopedic who asked me if I could donate services, a dentist who did extensive work to save her teeth and a loving church member, Lela Steel, who sponsored her.  We all donated our time, the company I worked for donated materials and Flex Foot donated carbon graphite feet.
I had only been managing this practice for a year and was pretty green.  However, I felt compelled to at least evaluate her and see what we could do.
Olena arrived for her first visit with her loving entourage:  her mother, host Lela Steel, and an interpreter.  She was dressed in black gothic style with enough wrist bands to make Madonna jealous.  I later learned that the bands would hold pens and pencils so she could write and draw. Turns out that she was a phenomenal artist.
She was reluctant and shy to have me examine her limbs.  You see, anyone with a handicap in Russia was a social outcast.  It took time to win her trust, but her dream to be of full stature and stand on her own two feet was powerful motivation.
The day I finally gave Olena her finished legs is a vivid and rich memory. She brought in pants to wear, HER FIRST PAIR EVER! We were all told to leave the room so that she could prepare herself.  Ten minutes passed...then 20.  The door slowly opened and there she stood in white pants that had been hemmed with a stapler...on her own two feet.
Not having to gaze up to see us for the first time ever, she put on some Russian music and with great pride and joy asked me to dance. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
Her mom hugged me, crying, and I knew the meaning of her words even though I don't speak a word of Ukrainian.  Olena was grateful that she would not have to “crawl in the dirt" and more.  And, as for me, I was so thankful that I was the Prosthetist who had the privilege to know her and lead her in her first dance.
Turns out that Olean doesn't use her new hands much.  She coveted them to hide her handicap, but in private, she was so skilled with her bare arms that she had no need of prosthetic hands.  See her art for yourself.  She is still in the Ukraine, standing tall and leading a more "normal" life.