Introduction:
Sabine is a survivor of the biggest pharmaceutical disaster in Germany's history!
She is a survivor of Thalidomide!
This drug was developed by the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal. It was prescribed to pregnant women to alleviate morning sickness.
Due to inadequate tests for its safety, about 10,000 children were born in Great Britain, Germany, Australia and other countries with severe malformations, missing limbs and other deformities.
Living with the consequences of Thalidomide:
Sabine was born in Germany early 1962 with very short arms.
It was an unimaginable hardship for parents to have a severely disabled child in the early 1960's. The was neither support, nor any social service agencies who knew what to do with children who had arms and/or legs missing.
At that time there was a lot of guilt and shame associated with having a "handicapped" child.
Sabine considers herself a very lucky person, as she had parents who understood that she needed to use her feet for all daily tasks. At the age of 9 months, her mother took her several times a week to physical therapy so she could learn to take care of herself by learning to use her feet.
Sabine learned skills such as getting dressed on her own, combing her hair, holding a pen or crayon between her toes, how to balance without arms and using a typewriter.
During her life time she had acquired many more skills. To name only a few: Putting makeup on with her feet (even eyeliner), cooking gourmand meals and of course, driving a car.
At first she had a Saturn, which was modified with foot controls.
In 2001 she went to Phoenix, AZ and met with someone who lost their arms through an accident, and drove a car without any modifications.
Sabine was fascinated by that and taught herself with the same perseverance and "can do" attitude she has displayed throughout her entire life, how to drive a car with her left foot on the steering wheel and right foot on the brake/gas.
Sabine's son:
Sabine's son Nicolas was born in 1983. It is a daunting task for most young mothers to care for a new born.
Of course having to change his diapers, feed him and dress him with her feet, must have been the most difficult task of her lifetime.
But with perseverance and innovative thinking she raised Nicolas into a great human being.
Today, he lives with his beautiful wife Sabrina in Seattle, WA.
Sabine and her boyfriend Rick live in Albuquerque, NM.
Besides being a motivational speaker and a accomplished artist, Sabine and Rick are both Realtors for The Vaughan Company.
Sabine's son, Nicolas throughout his life
A Day In The Life Of The Spirit Dancer
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Life Without Limits
The Story Of The Spirit Dancer...
Artist And Motivational Speaker, Sabine Becker, presents:
