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For the Larsens, hitting the slopes is a family affair. Come winter, everyone travels north to Lincoln, New Hampshire, to ski or snowboard. Mom Carla — once a novice — now teaches adaptive skiing. Older son Nick even met his future wife on Loon Mountain.
But perhaps the sport’s greatest influence has been on son Eric. For years, he helped coach both kids and adults with physical and mental disabilities, teaching them adaptive skiing through the New England Disabled Sports program. His motivation went well beyond simple athleticism, however. He was giving others what skiing had given him as a teenager with cerebral palsy: a sense of belonging, freedom and achievement. …
Teamwork and toughness: Living with cerebral palsy
Growing up in Querétaro, Mexico, María was an exceptionally bright and inquisitive child. At just 18 months old, she spoke at the level of a 6-year-old, and could even sing the tongue-twisting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” song. Her parents marveled at her intelligence at such a young age, but there was something in her development that seemed off.
“At 1 year, she wasn’t crawling well and had difficulty standing,” her mother, María José, recalls. “She hadn’t learned to walk by 18 months, and she would crawl by pulling her two legs at the same time — like a little bunny.” Her parents knew that something was wrong, so they took her to see a pediatrician in their home country of Mexico.
Enjoying life to her full potential with cerebral palsy
For a month, Nikki Puzzo walked around with a hockey puck strapped to her torso. But this mother of two wasn’t just being silly or exhibiting her love of sports. Instead, she was demonstrating solidarity with her younger daughter, Stella. The little girl, who has spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (CP), had a device called a baclofen pump implanted into her abdomen. “I wanted her to feel more comfortable and know that she wasn’t alone,” explains Nikki. …
Isaac’s story: A ‘new normal’ with short bowel syndrome
It was the morning after their baby son Isaac had come home from the hospital, and Jennifer and Brian Campbell were performing the same sweet act of bonding as many new parents: giving him a bath in the sink. But as they maneuvered around the room, they suddenly realized something was very wrong. “I fell to the floor and started screaming and crying as formula shot out of his stomach,” remembers Jennifer. “I thought we’d broken him.”
The reality, of course, was that the Campbells were simply adjusting to their new “normal” — something any parent of a medically complex child can understand. Isaac wasn’t a newborn. He had finally been discharged from the hospital after nine months. And his parents hadn’t hurt him. They’d just accidentally pulled out his gastrostomy (G-tube), which provided his body with nutritional support. …