yoocan - Polina Ullrich - Growing up with social standards
DAILY LIVING & MOBILITY

Growing up with social standards

Amputee

Polina Ullrich

Eight years after the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster I was born in Minsk, Belarus where most of the fallout landed due to wind and rain. I was born with myelomeningocele, a type of Spina Bifida. My left leg had two feet and no bone structure. It needed to get amputated when I was two years old. My whole life, or at least since puberty when we get conscious about how we look to others, I wanted my prosthetic leg not to be obvious. I tried to hide it beneath a foam cover to make it look like a normal one at first sight. Now I want it to be obvious. I don't want it to be like a normal leg anymore because nothing and no one can hide the truth anyways as much as I'd love to sometimes. Sometimes I catch myself pretending to be something I'm not, but then people watch me and I realize they're looking at how I walk and they try to figure out what's "wrong" with me. Now I want them to see and I don't want them to guess anymore. I want it to be obvious. Now I will proudly present myself to the world how I was meant to be. Because how I was meant to be is perfectly right. Never ever feel ashamed of something you can't change! Be proud of how different you are. The more different you are, the more special you are!

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