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Oct 20, 2009 10:58 pm US/Central
Minnesota Nice, Twice For Young Lady With New Legs
EDINA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Flory said all the Minnesotans who helped her during the months she was here have her eternal gratitude.
CBS
To a casual observer Flory Tacle is just a young lady out for a stroll through an Edina neighborhood. Look a little closer, deeper than the smile and the determined stride, and know that you are witnessing someone on a journey. She is someone who has already come a very long way in the past five years.
"It was very, very important in my life having new legs so I could be able to walk," said Flory. "Everywhere, anywhere. I mean [I have a normal walk now] so it's easy for me to go around."
Born in the Philippines with a birth defect, Flory's legs were useless below the knees. So, on her knees, she bravely marched through life anyway, balanced on a pair of flip-flops. There was no stopping the person or her dream of going to college.
Gina Peck of Edina saw that determination when she was looking for college students in Asian countries in need of college scholarships.
"I said I'm gonna pick this girl for the reason that maybe we can do more, not only the scholarship, but fix her legs," said Gina.
Peck's husband Mike is a Twin Cities airline pilot who founded Outreach Asia, a non-profit organization with programs in five countries.
In 2004, the Pecks first brought Flory to Minnesota for surgery that allowed her to be fitted with prosthetic legs. She was then fitted with limbs that allowed her to stand tall and look her peers in the eye. She took her first steps. At the age of 19 she got to shop for shoes for the first time in her life.
Flory grew into, then out of her legs over the years. She was using 10 pairs of socks as padding trying to make them fit comfortably. So, the Pecks invited Flory back for a new fitting.
Plymouth-based Otto Bock HealthCare happens to be the world's largest prosthetic and orthotic manufacturer and donated the new components. Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics of Minneapolis put them all together and gave Flory a new custom-fit.
Flory had only one special request. She dreamed of being five feet tall. The new legs were designed to put her over that mark in height.
Flory has grown in other ways. She is now a computer programming student. Her view of the world and its possibilities have taken on new dimensions.
"She changed a lot," said Gina. "She's gained more confidence and now she's more mature."
Flory said all the Minnesotans who helped her during the months she was here have her eternal gratitude.
"I was so happy and thankful to them," she said.
In particular, she is amazed at the kindness of Mike and Gina Peck.
"Really good. I feel like [they are] true family," she said. "They treated me as like their own, as a part of their family."
It reminds you of that famous quote, about how the journey really does begin ... with a single step.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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