The seven-year-old lives with dystonia, a neurological condition that affects communication between the brain and muscles.
In Celia’s case, it mostly affects her legs and feet.
According to her parents, she began walking at 11 months but was regularly falling over. When they first took her to the doctor, they were told not to worry since fine motor skills can develop more slowly for girls than they do for boys.
Maybe there’s some truth to that; I don’t know.
Personally, though, if a doctor tells me not to worry because of X, Y, and Z, my first reaction is to think they have no idea what they’re talking about.
And then I’m gonna do more research of my own and see somebody else.
Thankfully, Celia did eventually receive a diagnosis. She, then, had surgery to correct her feet that turned inwards and caused her to walk on the outside edges. She now wears leg braces to keep things positioned accordingly and will probably have another surgery once she stops growing.
None of this, however, has done anything to ruin Celia’s positive spirit.
According to her, she’s going to be a dance instructor or maybe a track coach when she’s older.
“I’m determined to walk and run without braces,” she says.
In the meantime, she’s happy to decorate her leg braces with various cover-ups. She’s tried everything from leopard print to pink skulls and crossbones. In the future, it might be zebra striped. We’ll see.
And don’t think that the leg braces hold her back, either. Just ask Celia yourself:
“Even though I have to wear braces, I have so many abilities.”
This little bad-ass is currently taking dance lessons and learning a type of martial arts called Tang Soo Du. She also likes to swim, rides a scooter, can do a handstand, and plays the piano. If she has it her way (which she probably will), she’ll also play soccer, basketball, and field hockey someday.
If only more of us could be like Celia Godfrey.
