Jalissa austin 31 and chasity young 32 both of texas were born with physical and intellectual limitations jalissa is three foot four inches tall chasity was born with no arms or knees the women believed they were alone in the world until they discovered each other on television they’re now best friends and they had their first face-to-face meeting earlier this year
Two remarkable women who are both missing limbs have become closest friends as a result of their shared adversity and perseverance she’s 31 years old and three foot four inches tall julissa austin was born without arms or knees and has only seven toes as a result of a congenital condition known as tetra-amelia syndrome chasity young age 32 of dallas was born with a rare congenital disease that’s
Left her without hands and with extremely short legs as a result of her birth following the publication of their respective experiences in the media they have subsequently become closest friends as a result of their extremely unique parallels with their friendship becoming stronger with each passing day they finally met in person for the first time with chastity traveling across state lines to
See jalissa for the first time it was the first time either of them had met anybody who was similar to themselves and the emotional moment of their encounter was documented on film the following is what chastity had to say i saw julius’s tail and it made me cry i was thinking to myself i can’t be the only person on the face of the planet who doesn’t have arms what happened to them
And then jalissa confirmed that there is in fact someone out there who had a similar experience to mine i have to track her down i thought to myself in the absence of other people who look like you it can feel as though you’re the only person on the planet who thinks like you everyone requires a sense of self i’m overjoyed to have met jalissa since it means i now have someone with whom i can identify
The fact is we all belong to a family and we all have pails those are the times when you need someone like you because we all have our own challenges that others will never be able to understand doctors warn that jalissa would never be able to lead a regular life some 30 years ago and she’s still uncertain of what caused her abnormalities at this time in the meantime julissa has proven her
Skeptics wrong by learning to utilize her feet when performing routine duties such as brushing her teeth and sending text messages on her smartphone the majority of the inquiries they get are variations on the theme of how do you eat and how do you write as well as who takes you to the restroom and who puts your makeup on my medical condition has no impact on my daily activities because they’re afraid of the world
There are a great number of people who are unable to express themselves fully you must be true to yourself and express gratitude that’s exactly what chastity and i are doing right now as like chastity she’s learned to utilize her feet to execute activities that she would otherwise have struggled to do otherwise both women have been the target of a great deal of looking and pointing in public places but they’ve quickly
Learned to ignore their detractors and maintain a cheerful attitude with those who matter the most to them i enjoy it when kids come up to me and say things like hey woman what’s up where’s your hands at why are you so little like me chasity added then we’ll be able to have a talk i make a conscious effort not to be offended i don’t refer to it as a disability because that implies that something is
Preventing you from doing anything else it makes it difficult to move from point a to point b however i’ve made it whatever you want to call it a b c d e f g you name it julissa and chastity have amassed thousands of followers on their social media pages and they’re eternally grateful to the barcroft television series born different for bringing them together in the first place i really appreciate what barcroftv does
Chastity expressed her gratitude my experience with them has been nothing short of spectacular i hope they continue to assist in raising awareness i said i’ve really enjoyed the difference in sharing my tale julissa went on to say and thanks to born different i received a slew of encouraging notes i’m absolutely overjoyed to have this opportunity jalissa is currently preparing her
Wedding with jonathan a five foot six inch able-bodied man she met online their wedding is scheduled for next year in the meantime chastity together with julissa is continuing to be an advocate for persons with disabilities and is assisting others in learning to appreciate their bodies no matter what they may look like i believe there are no boundaries to my future chasity stated in addition he says being an advocate
For persons with disabilities something that’s very important to him the two of them are overjoyed to have met in person for the first time and are looking forward to continuing their connection i’m confident in the future for me and chastity julissa continued we’re going to be pales forever nonetheless a man nick vijussic who was born with tetra amelia syndrome and who lives without members provides us
Genuine reason to be hopeful this australian man who was born with tetraemelia syndrome inspires millions of people every day nick has not only been able to establish a good family life but he’s also published books that serve as a reminder to us that nothing is impossible and that we are the ones who create obstacles for ourselves as a life coach vajusik continues to tour the world offering his advice and sharing his
Story with others assisting them in finding their way through life however what exactly is amelia syndrome it’s extremely rare to be born with all four limbs missing which is what’s known as tetra-amelia syndrome the condition can also result in severe deformities of other sections of the body such as the face and head heart neurological system skeleton and genitalia among other areas of concern various people have undeveloped lungs
Which makes breathing difficult or impossible in many situations because of the substantial medical challenges that children with tetraemelia syndrome face the vast majority of them are stillborn or die shortly after birth within a single family the disorder has been linked to a mutation in the wnt3 gene and it appears to be inherited in an autosomal recessive manner treatment for those who survive is
Dependent on the prevalence and severity of the associated symptoms and it may necessitate the collaboration of a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in order to be effective this table contains a list of symptoms that persons who have this disease may experience these symptoms of the majority of ailments will differ from individual to individual people suffering from the same condition
May not exhibit all the symptoms listed a database known as the human phenotype ontology hpo contains the data that was used to compile this report it’s the responsibility of the hpo to gather information on symptoms that have been reported in medical resources diagnosis it’s possible to make a clinical diagnosis of tetramela syndrome based on observable features and this is usually done during a regular prenatal
Ultrasound despite the fact that the wnt3 gene has been linked to tetraemelia syndrome the mutation detection frequency remains unknown due to the small number of families that have been analyzed it’s possible to obtain information on tetraemelia syndrome genetic tests through genetic testing registry gtr the gtr is aimed at healthcare providers and researchers and it’s available in english
Patients and consumers who have particular questions regarding a genetic test should speak with their healthcare practitioner or a genetics professional for assistance for medical advice you can seek it from doctors or other healthcare professionals who have dealt with this ailment in their previous roles advocacy organizations clinical studies and publications published in medical journals are all good places to start
Looking for these specialists you can also consider contacting a university or tetriary medical facility in your area as these facilities are more likely to deal with difficult situations and have access to the most up-to-date technology and therapies if you’re unable to locate a specialist in your immediate vicinity consider contacting national or international professionals they may be able to suggest to you someone they know as a
Result of their participation in conferences or research projects it’s possible that some specialists will talk with you or your local doctors over the phone or over email if you can’t make it to them in person for treatment information that is in depth full text papers written by experts and published in peer-reviewed journals are available on gene reviews these articles describe how genetic testing can be used in the diagnosis management and genetic
Counseling of patients with certain inherited disorders it is the monarch initiative’s goal to gather together data on this illness from humans and other species in order to assist clinicians and biological researchers the tools provided by monarch are intended to make it easier to compare the signs and symptoms of different diseases and to identify common characteristics
There are various academic institutions throughout the world participating in this program which is financed by the national institutes of health the online mendelian inheritances in man omim database has a comprehensive listing of human genes and genetic diseases several related medical articles are summarized in each item it’s intended for use by healthcare professionals and scientists
The online medical information management system is maintained by the johns hopkins university school of medicine in addition to providing information on rare diseases and orphaned pharmaceuticals orphanet also serves as a european reference portal the use of this database is completely free of charge thanks for reading.