Carmen Christian was stunned when she discovered she was pregnant seven years after the birth of her first child. She had been told she would have no more children. But as the pregnancy progressed, she sensed something was wrong. "Mother's intuition," she says. So when her daughter D'Ann was born without a left hand, she cried and was angry with God. "But the day after she was born, I decided I was going to get a new hand for her." But every prosthetist and doctor she saw told her to wait until the child was six-years-old.
The young mother finally found a doctor who would help the six-month-old baby girl and D'Ann was fitted with a tiny hand. Since children weren't usually fitted until the age of six, occupational therapists didn't know how to help. So Carmen sat on the floor with D'Ann every day and taught her how to use her new arm. "I couldn't shelter her; I knew that would be bad for her." And throughout her childhood her parents continued to challenge her.
Carmen's tenacity and determination rubbed off on her daughter. D'Ann was fitted with her first Otto Bock hand while she was in junior high school. She was a cheerleader in junior high and high school and she took gymnastics and ballet. "There was nothing she couldn't do," Carmen says proudly. "Cartwheels, jumping rope, you name it! And through high school she was a model. I never told D'Ann she couldn't do anything. She had to prove to herself and others that she could."
Today, D'Ann is married and a mom herself of two little boys. She is an environmental engineer for the State of Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
To parents facing similar challenges, Carmen advises, "Never, never give up! It's up to the parents to show the child the way. If the parents withdraw into themselves, then the child will too. My theory is there are no handicapped children – only handicapped parents."