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 When Terri Davis wheeled herself into The
Amputee and Prosthetic Center for the first time,
she was still in disbelief.
“This is a dream. This has to be a dream,” she
said in tears. “I still can’t believe I’m this
close to getting a new leg!”
The feisty 45 year-old
grandmother from New Caney has had her share of
troubles. Over 20 years ago, as she was coming
from a friend’s house, she was stabbed in the back
by a stranger. Then a poisonous spider bite lead
her to the tough decision of getting her leg
amputated at the age of 19. It was tough enough
being a young adult, but was even more difficult
being a young adult who happened to be an amputee.
“People would stare at me like I wasn’t
normal,” she said. “After a while I got used to
it; just didn’t faze me. I got married and raised
an amazing daughter; now I’m hanging out with my
grandkids.”
Currently, “hanging out”
entails mostly staying in the house. When she’s
able, Terri takes them out through assistance from
friends, and sometimes strangers. She found it
very difficult to ask for help. “I was used to
being independent: doing things for myself and
doing things for others. I traveled, ran,
exercised…but now I’m confined to my house.”
After hitting a brick wall with her insurance
company, Terri found out about Limbs of love after
spending time surfing the Internet. With
determination, she submitted her story to the
organization and received the answer she was
looking for in six words: “We are able to help
you.”
“I thought I’d imagined the call at
first, I was so stunned,” she said.
Now,
thanks to Limbs of Love, she will finally get back
control of her life. She met with Jackie, her new
prosthetist, and Wendy Ledbetter, her peer
visitor. She had her new friends in stitches and
on the verge of tears while getting her
measurements taken for her new leg.
“I
can’t wait to walk again! I especially can’t wait
to drive my family to different places, and treat
my grandkids to some fun,” she said. “I had
resigned myself to living a life with limitations,
but now I don’t have to anymore!”
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