SUNNY’S SMILE

In the crowd that lined the streets was an employee of the Amputee and Prosthetic Center. "I was blown away", the employee remembers, "here was this beautiful teenager, full of life and joy and she had only one arm!" That employee found out about the Chism's financial struggle to afford the right prosthesis and took Sunny's story straight back to Joe Sansone, CEO at the Amputee and Prosthetic Center and founder of the Limbs of Love organization.

Sansone wasted no time before assembling a proficient team of prosthetic experts, including a Peer Visitor for Sunny, to determine the best way to reach out to the teen. Before long, Limbs of Love was in the process of fabricating the perfect, custom-made prosthesis for Sunny. "I can't believe there are still people like you around" Melanie says gratefully.

A lot has changed since that fateful day in Buna but some things remain the same. Sunny's love for life, strength of character and sunny smile can still light up a room. She is living proof that life after amputation can be truly inspiring.

At first glance, Sunny seems like a typical all-American girl. Athletic, competitive and pretty, Sunny's smile lights up a room when she walks in. There's something special about Sunny however, that takes her out of the realm of ordinary teenager and propels her into the sphere of an over achiever.that is Sunny's indelible tenacity in the face of adversity. In June of 2007, 13-year-old Sunny was involved in a tragic accident that resulted in the amputation of her left arm.

What began as a fun trip on a four-wheeler between friends turned into a nightmare that changed her life forever. On June 17, Sunny and her friend Kaitlyn were driving along a country road in Buna Texas when their ATV overturned throwing and dragging Sunny behind it. Her left arm was almost completely severed. The vehicle then landed on Kaitlyn pinning her, dislocating her shoulder and breaking her arm in 5 places. In a desperate attempt to save her friend and oblivious to the extent of her own injuries, Sunny managed to lift the ATV off Kaitlyn and both girls got back on the vehicle and drove to the nearest house to get help. As fate would have it there was no one at the house who could give assistance to the girls, and true to Sunny's immutable spirit she headed to a nearby car to see if the keys were inside.

Sunny Chism never made it to the car. Kaitlyn watched helplessly as her friend collapsed the ground, bloody and unconscious. It was then that Mr. and Mrs. Hensley were driving by and saw the desperate Kaitlyn flagging down their car. The couple immediately began attending to the injured girl when they saw Sunny, unconscious on the ground. Mr. Hensley immediately made a makeshift tourniquet with his belt around Sunny's almost severed arm and he still recalls that poignant moment when he knelt down at her side and heard her feeble voice, "I am done. I am going home. Help my friend." It was at that moment that the true character in Sunny shone through and Mr. Hensley determined that he had to save this brave little girl.

Needless to say, from that moment life for the Chisms, especially Sunny was forever changed. She survived but suffered the loss of her left arm. As she went through a painful period of recovery, Sunny had to begin again as it were. Things that she once did without a second thought now became major feats. The sports she loved: basketball, volleyball, track and softball seemed like a distant memory. As she struggled with the physical pain, the mental anguish was threatening to swallow Sunny and her family. Financially, the Chism family were struggling to pay the medical bills that were mounting while at the same time, trying to restore life to some semblance of normalcy. Sunny's mom Melanie recalls, "I cried through many nights, asking God why this didn't happen to me instead of my baby".

It was this desire to alleviate Sunny's pain that took them in search of a suitable prosthetic arm. After many painful experiences, Sunny was fitted with a prosthesis, which by her own admission, "was thrown to the back of the closet. It was bulky, heavy and ugly. It hurt me". Finding an arm that fit Sunny properly, that was painless and aesthetically appropriate was beyond the Chism's budget. Sunny had given up on the idea of having an arm that she could really use but she had not given up on life. Sunny's indomitable spirit took her back to her love of art and sports. She dove headlong into drawing and writing, tried out for and made her high school volleyball team. Then, to top it all, Sunny entered a beauty pageant.

It was at this pageant as Sunny rode through the streets of her town with other Miss Buna contestants, beaming a beautiful, sunny smile and waving to the crowd that fate smiled on Sunny.