Elizabeth Guan-Xin Harris was born in Mainland China and was adopted by her family in November 2013. Born with congenital deformities of both lower limbs, she was confined and limited in her mobility her first years of life. Through the intervention of dozens of physicians, prosthetists, therapists, and volunteers including ABR, she is now living a full life of childhood activity. She will be entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2017. Elizabeth currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her forever family.
Keep reading to learn more about Elizabeth’s experience with ABR in her own words:
My name is Elizabeth Guan-Xin Harris. My friends and family call me “Mei Xin”. I am 5 years old and just got my first running blade and skin fit socket in April 2017. I got my first prosthetic when I was 2 years old, but I couldn’t walk in it until I was 3 years old. I used a gel liner and my mom was always having to wash it because we lived in Africa at the time and sand from the winds would blow everywhere.
In Africa, soccer is very popular with the kids. Anybody can play it in the streets, at school, in a field, on the beach. I always want to join the kids. Whenever I tried to kick the ball, I couldn’t control my kicking leg and I couldn’t run fast enough without falling. When my mom found out about ABR, she applied for me to get a running leg because she thought I would be able to do more sports and run like I always want to do.
Luckily, we are in the United States for a couple months, and ABR fitted me with my new leg right away. Being 5 years old, I didn’t want the change in leg at first, but quickly found out that I like this new leg better. Mommy has noticed that I can run faster without getting tired so easily. I have completed 2 fun runs with mom and dad. I also joined a “nubability” clinic and learned to do squats and burpees. Since I got my leg, mom has signed me up for gymnastics tumbling classes and I have gone ice skating. I can even jump on a trampoline better with my new leg! Mom said I was always active before, but now with my new leg I want to do so much more!