Oksana Bindarchuk was born in 1989 in Ukraine. When she came into the world, doctors were shocked. The newborn baby looked strange. A large part of her legs was missing. Her hands were misshapen; she hadn’t thumbs and fingernails. Also, her kidneys were damaged. Her birth defects were probably caused by the nuclear disaster happened three years earlier in Chernobyl.
Her parents were horrified, they didn’t know how to take care of her, so they left her in an orphanage. The girl never saw her parents.
The child was bullied, starved, beaten many times while she was in the orphanage. The girl had only one hope to be adopted into a good family. But nobody thought it was possible. She was registered in the national adoption data bank. But no one wanted to have this girl with special needs.
There was a call from the other side of the world one day. Gay Masters, a therapist from Cincinnati wanted to adopt this girl. It was a miracle. Oksana was five when she saw her future mother. But the process of adoption took more than two years because of Ukrainian law.
Gay’s friends in Cincinnati didn’t understand why she decided to take this “unhealthy” girl. But Guy was sure what she was doing. Her courage saved the girl’s life.
Finally, Oksana was able to travel to the U. S. Doctors were able to treat her hands, but her legs were too weak to carry her weight. The specialists recommended amputating her legs that she could live a normal life with prosthetic limbs.
Oksana learned very quickly how to use her new legs after the operation. She could run and ride a bike. She found her passion in rowing. The girl was so good that she qualified for the American Paralympic Team.
This girl has nothing to hide; her body is beautiful and strong! She has no limits.
And her life inspired thousands around the world. In 2015 Oksana visited Ukraine to encourage wounded soldiers.
