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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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THE COURAGE AWARD FOR MAY OF 2007….

...goes to Kellie Lim, a triple amputee at age 8, after a devastating bout with bacterial meningitis, an infection that raged out of control, becoming systemic and leading to clotting and irreparable damage to her limbs.

Her inspiration for her life of perseverance and triumph came at least partly from her Mom, who

went blind in her 20s and, except for not driving, sought to continue as normal a life as possible in raising three children. She cooked, cleaned and walked the youngsters to school.

Mom died three years ago, but before she did, Kellie made her a promise….

...she promised to finish medical school at UCLA, where she was a freshman. And in a week or so, she’ll take the physician’s oath with her classmates, and begin a residency in pediatrics.

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.

She reluctantly will accept a seat during hospital bedside rounds when painful ulcers erupt on the skin that touches her prosthetics. (She has undergone grafts and additional surgeries over the years to help with the fittings.)

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.

In a world of “extra time for my exam”, and “points on my application for living in a bad neighborhood”, and “I deserve a break because my ancestors had a hard time”, Kellie Lim stands out.

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HAT TIP: Bookworm

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/26 at 10:08 PM

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