I love reading stories about other people with diastrophic dysplasia and the things they have accomplished. It's a rare condition and not easy to find stories of people specifically with this form of dwarfism. Two years ago, I first read about Chris Errera, a pianist who has since gone on to appear on The Rosie O'Donnell show.
I first heard of Grant "Scooter" Patterson when Maddy was still in NICU. Prof Sillence brought a few photos of people with different forms of dwarfism who had been patients of his. Scooter was one of them. I didn't realise at the time that I would also read about him in the news paper.
A year or so ago, I stumbled upon this story of Scooter I copied the link to a draft post intending to share it here but never got around to it. It is only because the paralympics are on at the moment that he's come to my attention again.
A dear family friend (Hi Aunty Susan!) was talking to my parents and mentioned that she'd seen Scooter on TV and thought that "diastrophic dysplasia" might have been the same thing that Maddy had. My dad looked him up and sent me this story, complete with a video!
I love how Scooter inspires me to keep Maddy fit and active - particularly with swimming (as a low-impact sport, it is perfect for someone with joint issues). Who knows, one day we might see Maddy in the paralympics too!! Why not??
(an interesting side-note: Scooter's next event in London is the S4 100m Freestyle. Also representing Australia in the same event is Amhed Kelly, the brother of the X-Factor contestent, Emmanuel Kelly.)
I first heard of Grant "Scooter" Patterson when Maddy was still in NICU. Prof Sillence brought a few photos of people with different forms of dwarfism who had been patients of his. Scooter was one of them. I didn't realise at the time that I would also read about him in the news paper.
A year or so ago, I stumbled upon this story of Scooter I copied the link to a draft post intending to share it here but never got around to it. It is only because the paralympics are on at the moment that he's come to my attention again.
A dear family friend (Hi Aunty Susan!) was talking to my parents and mentioned that she'd seen Scooter on TV and thought that "diastrophic dysplasia" might have been the same thing that Maddy had. My dad looked him up and sent me this story, complete with a video!
I love how Scooter inspires me to keep Maddy fit and active - particularly with swimming (as a low-impact sport, it is perfect for someone with joint issues). Who knows, one day we might see Maddy in the paralympics too!! Why not??
(an interesting side-note: Scooter's next event in London is the S4 100m Freestyle. Also representing Australia in the same event is Amhed Kelly, the brother of the X-Factor contestent, Emmanuel Kelly.)
Thank you Nicole.
ReplyDeleteI wondered what kind of physical exercise could people with DD do... Swimming looks perfect. I'm looking forward to see Maddy as a little mermaid ;)
Best of luck to Grant Patterson for is competition!