“Whatever Zoe wants to do in life she will do. There is no doubt in my mind.” – Denise, Zoe’s mom.
Zoe is a going concern. At five years old, she swims, plays soccer and hikes with her family. She would scale cliff walls, if only her mom and dad would let her. Happily they’re giving her the chance to do so, under expert supervision, at a local climbing gym.
Zoe is also very creative. She’s particularly drawn to anything messy. Give her paints, sparkles and glue, smelly markers and even makeup, and this visual artist will create bold works of art – sometimes on the faces and nails of her friends. She is also taking ballet class, something she began to do five months after her rehabilitation at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.
It was a different story for Zoe and her family during the spring of 2010 when four-year-old Zoe dashed down the back steps of her grandparent’s house, slipped, and fell in front of a ride-on lawnmower. Despite every effort to save her lower left leg, surgeons had to amputate it.
Shocked and overwhelmed, Zoe’s parents did not know what was next for their daughter. This uncertainty was put to rest when a social worker told them about Holland Bloorview. She assured them that Zoe would be walking within a year and riding her bike the following summer as a result of her rehabilitation. “This place is amazing,” she said.
It was difficult at first to foresee this quick recovery. Zoe, like most children coping with the pain and shock of a serious accident and major surgery, adopted a flat personality.
“They took away the leg, but I wanted Zoe’s spirit back,” says Denise, Zoe’s mom. “Everybody was so in sync and had this goal to get Zoe to where she needed to be. To walk, smile, laugh, and be herself again - they really rallied around to make that happen.”
The therapeutic team introduced themselves with games, and incorporated fun and play into Zoe’s therapy to make her feel comfortable and at ease. They gave her a stuffed bear, amputated its leg, sewed it back up and made it an artificial leg to show her the step-by-step process as they prepared her for her prosthetic. This process involved getting Zoe’s limb ready and building her core strength. She also got to choose the colour of her new prosthetic – blue, with a tiger on it!
Zoe loved Holland Bloorview’s recreational program and made lasting friends. She swam at Holland Bloorview’s pool, enjoyed the indoor playroom and the outdoor spiral garden, explored her creative side through arts and crafts, and participated in wheelchair basketball.
The staff at Holland Bloorview also gave the family the moral support and guidance they needed during a very trying time. They welcomed Denise’s assistance but also encouraged her to take breaks.
The family was so impressed with the quality of care that Zoe and the family received that Zoe’s older sister is strongly considering becoming a physiotherapist herself. Denise’s second cousin was also deeply impressed. She is studying at Queens University to be a physiotherapist and did her internship at Holland Bloorview.
Even Zoe herself wants to become a physiotherapist when she grows up. For now she receives ongoing treatment from Holland Bloorview to ensure she maintains proper alignment. She is also teaching kids to play safe, and taking on the significant responsibility of training her bulldog puppy. Denise saw Zoe’s compassionate and responsible side flourish while she was at Holland Bloorview.
“Zoe gravitated to kids who weren’t able to do what she could do,” she says. “She helped and played with them. This compassion was a new insight. I saw little pieces of it, but it really came out when she was at Holland Bloorview.”
