I just read an article in Fitness Magazine about Jennifer Kennedy. In high school she was a really good gymnist and cheerleader. Her senior year she was thinking of trying out for a cheerleading squad in college when she felt a tingling sensation in her right leg. The tingling got worse a couple months later so the doctor diagnosed her with a blood clot in the main artery behind her knee. The blood thinner that was prescribed gave her a bad reaction causing more blood clots cutting off circulation to her foot. Jennifer had to make a decision: keep her leg and wear a brace or be on crutches the rest of life, or have it amputated and get a prosthesis. Jennifer had the operation.
After her surgery she went to physical therapy to get used to her new leg. Five months later she enrolled at Saint Ambrose University where she made the cheerleading squad and majored in physical therapy. At an internship she met her husband who also lost his leg but in a car accident.
Today Jennifer and her husband have two kids. She loves her career and she trained for a 5K and lost forty pounds. Jennifer doesn't think of her new leg as a disability becuase of all she has accomplished.
I'm inspired by this story because Jennifer didn't let a fake leg stop her from doing the things she loved to do but made her work harder. I love running and didn't think I could do it without my legs but Jennifer proved you can. If she can run a 5K so can I.
This is really inspiring. I don't know if I would like to go through the process of having a fake leg but at least she still got to go through her life normally. I don't run that often, but I would like to start.
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