Her birth mother abandoned her, but she soon found a loving family. This girl was born without arms and legs

Recently, a video appeared on YouTube in which a little girl without arms learns to eat using her legs. Sitting in a child seat, she eats from a plate with a fork, holding the cutlery with her toes. Several English-language resources, in particular Boredpanda, wrote about her, which attracted even more attention to her fate. As Metro found out, the cheerful little girl’s name is Vasilina and she is one and a half years old. A Moscow couple took her into their family from an orphanage.

Doctors still don't know what's wrong with her. They only say that it is not a genetic disease,” the girl’s mother, Elmira Knutsen, told Metro. -According to them, such a child can be born to any parent, that is, not to alcoholics or drug addicts. There was talk that this could have been influenced by the environmental situation in the area where she was born, but there is no official confirmation of this, since similar children were born in environmentally safe areas.

The Knutsen family now has four children. In addition to Vasilina, Elmira and her husband also took a boy, Denis, from the orphanage, who also had problems with underdeveloped limbs. The experience of raising three children instilled faith in the family that they would be able to take Vasilina in and give her all their love and strength, raising her in the best way.

After Denis came to us, we knew that we would take someone else. When we saw that Vasilina was from Yekaterinburg and that she had no arms, it was not difficult for us to imagine that we could take her. BUT our goal is for as many orphans as possible to find a family. So we waited. Several families expressed a desire to take Vasilina. But every time something didn’t work out. Two days before her first birthday, we took Vasilina home. Two months later she officially became our daughter. She is only one and a half years old and is just learning now. Many children at this age are not very dexterous even when working with their hands. Those who watch her say that her legs work better than the arms of children at this age. She can hold a spoon, a toothbrush. Dexterously work on a computer. Our son also has no fingers, but he writes with a pen and plays with Legos,” Elmira said.

According to her parents, after they took Vasilina, a lot of users on social networks began to follow her fate. People even wrote and asked about her. She inspired others, so the family continued to post videos and photos online from time to time. This, however, is not surprising, given Vasilina’s cheerful character and the fact that even at that age she easily finds a common language with others.

He communicates normally with other children. Of course, not everyone reacts well, but there have been no problems so far, plus Vasilina is still small. In addition, her radiant smile easily distracts from problems with her hands. Our son is a teenager, he is beginning to realize himself and perceive himself through those around him, so he is shy, but Vasilina does not understand this yet. But the surrounding children quickly get used to such things, said the girl’s mother.

As Elmira notes, despite all the criticism in society, the state helps them. In particular, it organized free operations for Denis and Vasilina, provided free prosthetics and a dairy kitchen. The government also provided medications and trips to sanatoriums, but the family has not yet used all this. And, of course, there is free travel on public transport and benefits on rent and electricity.

We don't plan to move. We love Russia, we like everything here and believe that we should live here. We just hope that our society will change and by the time my children grow up, the attitude towards people with disabilities will be different. It is already changing if we compare it with what it was 5 years ago. I hope that when they grow up, in Russia, when a disabled child is born, doctors will stop offering to leave him,” she added.

Answering the question about what prompted her to take children from the orphanage, especially children who have health problems, Elmira noted that it all started with faith in God, and then her confidence was fueled by similar actions of those around her, as well as living examples of fortitude.

What prompted us to take the child from the orphanage was that when I believed in God and began to read Scripture, I saw that real faith is caring for orphans. Before I got married, I went to help in orphanages and tried to do something. And when my husband and I got married, we realized that we could welcome a child into the family. When we were praying for Denis and thinking about whether to take him or not, we were given a book by Nick Vujicic. We read it and he inspired us with his life and we realized that Denis is special and God also has a special plan for him. Plus, when communicating with another family who also had such a child, we realized that he was absolutely the same as any other,” Elmira concluded.

This beautiful married couple adopted a girl who was born without limbs. Then they thought that they would change the baby’s life, but they could not even imagine how much she would change their lives.

At the age of 6 months, the mother abandoned the disabled girl, and she was sent to an orphanage. As luck would have it, a Utah couple came across her photo while looking through photos of children available for adoption in 2014.

“Her smile is the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. She just had to be part of our family,” said adoptive mom Adrianna.

The couple already had two children: girls 11 and 13 years old, in addition, they adopted a boy, Joshua, so taking a third child into the family, and even one with disabilities, means a serious financial expense for the family. The couple weighed the pros and cons and then decided to apply.

“The most important thing is that we knew we would love her with all our hearts,” Adrianna recalls.

The couple followed their adopted daughter to the Philippines in 2015.

“We were very nervous before the meeting; we didn’t want to offend Maria or scare her with our reaction. They showed her our photo, but she was probably just as worried as we were. When we met, she looked happy and smiled at us.”

A teacher in an orphanage could not hold back her tears at the sight of loving hearts uniting. Then it became clear to everyone - Maria had found a family.

They all moved to the USA together. It took a lot of time for Maria to get used to the new conditions. Her brother Joshua helped her with this. They are both from the Philippines, so they were able to quickly find a common language.

After a year of Maria's stay in the family, her parents made a video in which they told how they were coping. They hoped that this video would inspire people around the world to help poor orphans.

The girl is growing up to be a very kind and bright child. She is very generous and even makes her parents feed her teddy bear before her parents start feeding her.

“Despite her disability, Maria wants the same thing as all the other children, just in a different way,” says Adrianna Stewart.

When the baby turned three years old, she began attending a local kindergarten, developing speech and doing physical exercises. The girl is growing up a real fan of 80s music.

Using special devices that were designed specifically for her, the girl learned to draw, play on the computer and eat on her own. She also rode a horse with her father several times.

“At first we think there are some things she can’t do, and then we see how she copes,” Adrianna says.

One of the clinics specially developed a prosthesis for the girl, with which she can control her stroller.

“She inspired our whole family. Thanks to Maria, we realized that we should never give up. As it turns out, the man is much more capable than we previously thought.”

Soon Maria's family received terrible news - Joshua was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia. Doctors gave a 65% chance of survival.

“Our world had just come to harmony when cancer burst into it and destroyed everything.”

Maria did not abandon her brother in the hospital. They visit almost every day. Despite the terrible news, the Stewart family is thinking positively.

The head of the family, Jason Stewart, wrote: “We don’t know what the future holds for us, but we really hope for a favorable outcome.”

State Duma deputy Igor Lebedev said that parents should not give birth to children with developmental pathologies, commenting on a video where a little girl eats without arms, holding a fork with her legs. Life's special correspondent met with the girl's mother and Vasilina herself, the heroine of the video.

Gawli!!! - Vasilina shouts and grabs a green plastic rake from the sandbox. The girl holds them with the toes of her left foot, and deftly lifts the fish mold with her right foot. He slowly scoops sand into the mold and tamps it down with his left heel. Turn it over once - and the cake is ready. “Meow,” sums up Vasilina. Perhaps she means something more meaningful than "meow", but at her age it is difficult to make out the message.

Vasilina is two and a half years old. She was born without arms. There is no left one at all, instead of the right one there is only a small appendage with two fingers. Otherwise, she is an ordinary child: she is embarrassed by strangers, disobediently shakes her light brown head, trying to hide her eyes under her bangs, but when she gets used to it a little, she immediately begins to play and climb slides.

She likes to climb the slide without the help of adults. Vasilina decisively approaches the first step, sits down on it, pushes herself a little deeper with her feet, stands up and moves to the second step. So, step by step, it rises to the very top. There is already a ball at the top. Vasilina bends down, grabs the ball with two fingers, pinches it with her chin and lifts it up. Now she sits on the hill with importance, like a little princess. “Meow,” she screams and throws it down the plastic pipe so that one of the adults below can catch it and bring it back again.

The girl laughs as adults run back and forth across the playground for the ball and then return it. She looks cheerful and confident.

“I myself,” the girl loudly declares to her mother and grabs her stroller, in which sits a teddy bear. She pushes the stroller with her shoulder and walks briskly behind. Passers-by pretend that they do not notice anything unusual, but as soon as the baby passes by, they turn their heads sharply and at the same time timidly.

Vasilina’s biological parents abandoned her immediately after the birth of their daughter. They were not drunkards or homeless people - they were just scared. The girl was different, unusual. Apparently, this is why no one condemned the abandonment of the child or tried to dissuade the parents. In the district hospital, everyone understood by default - after all, a girl without arms was probably the way to the orphanage. And then, well, further if you’re lucky.

Vasilina was lucky: she was not abandoned in an orphanage - she was adopted by a loving couple. And the baby, unlike so many of her peers, quickly got used to her peculiarities.

The 17-second video of one-and-a-half-year-old Vasilina having lunch while holding a fork with her feet was watched by 78 million people. 90 thousand comments in different languages, in which they wished the girl health and admired her strength.

But among these ninety thousand votes there was the voice of a Russian State Duma deputy. The leader of the LDPR faction, Igor Lebedev, shared his vision of the world and wrote: “Why are such children allowed to be born, because this is a martyr, not life?! Modern medicine determines pathology in advance.”

It would be better if you, women, did not give birth to such people at all, the people’s representative summed up in a short correspondence to his opponents.

Little Vasilina is not yet aware that her adult uncle from parliament called her a pathology and would prefer that she not be born. She laughs, pushes her own stroller with a teddy bear in front of her, climbs the slide herself and loves to play with other children. True, sometimes children look too closely at an unusual girl, and then the little girl smiles and explains: “I don’t have hands.” However, in almost all games this is not an obstacle for her.

Faction invalid

Deputy Igor Lebedev has two children, both his own, both born without developmental disabilities. The children, according to some media reports, are studying in Switzerland at an elite American school - everything is fine with them. The childhood of deputy Lebedev himself, whose father is Vladimir Zhirinovsky, was also happy and healthy.

He answers the phone irritably and as if offended. It’s as if the deputy doesn’t want to be drawn back into this unhealthy world of inferior people into which he accidentally found himself. After all, in recent days the deputy has been forced to listen to unpleasant remarks from many people, and he is not used to unpleasant remarks. It seems that Lebedev does not see anything strange, let alone scary, in his words. Moreover, he is sure that the journalists exaggerated everything.

Deputy Lebedev is not familiar with little Vasilina. He calls her an unfortunate, armless girl who has no future.

Lebedev still believes that some people should not be born. But this, of course, is not any fascism, this is not xenophobia, this is not at all like calls to kill the weak, mutilated and racially inferior.

You can find medical methods to terminate this pregnancy and get pregnant again. In my opinion, women who agree to give birth to obviously disabled people are thinking about themselves at that second. And we must think about the children. Tell a disabled child without arms, without legs, how can he live? I can’t imagine how a girl without arms can get married and meet people!

Lebedev adds that he treats people with disabilities well; they also have a disabled person in their faction, to whom no one gave “neither a rude word nor a sidelong glance.” And he invites the girl’s mother to visit, where he is ready to give a gift - he offers her his help in building a ramp at the entrance. After all, the entrance where Vasilina lives never had a ramp. And then a whole deputy rushes to the rescue.

"She a gift for our whole family"

Elmira Knutsen is forty years old - she looks much younger. Especially when he walks next to his little daughter. She doesn’t coo at all with Vasilina, but tries to speak on an equal footing.

Elmira and Chris Knutsen had their first child seven years ago. Denis was seven years old, he had Hanhart syndrome - a genetic disease, underdevelopment of the limbs.

A friend approached us with the words “help find a family for this boy.” But then both my husband and I decided that the Lord was calling us to take in an orphan.

Vasilina was taken a year and a half ago. The advertisement was found on Facebook, on the wall of the then children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov. Elmira says that at that moment she realized that this was a sign from God. In her decisions, she often appeals to higher powers. She believes that this is her mission.

We are believers, and my husband and I understand from the Bible as a vocation that true faith is caring for orphans. And we decided to take children into the family. If the Lord calls, he gives everything necessary to fulfill this calling.

Elmira and Chris Knutsen live in Moscow. Elmira is from Bashkiria, her husband Chris is American. My husband makes good money. And the woman takes care of her large family. For many years, the Knutsens have been helping sick children and orphans.

We started doing charity work back in 2000. Then they lived in Yekaterinburg. On New Year's Eve, the couple came dressed as Father Frost and Snow Maiden to children with cancer: they gave the kids gifts and sang songs. Since then, they have been raising funds, volunteering, participating in charity races, or looking for sponsors to help abandoned or sick babies.

Elmira and Chris are Protestant Christians from the Moscow Bible Church. There they also hold meetings with parishioners and seminars: for those who decide to adopt a child with special needs. The family has a lot of experience and they have a lot to tell.

They have four children: fourteen, eight, five and two and a half years old. Two of my own sons, and two adopted children. Elmira also calls them her own, but adds that they are special.

Vasilina is a gift for our whole family. No matter who communicates with her, it feels like she gives love and joy. She is very joyful. And my oldest son is very optimistic - probably the most optimistic person I know.

But even prepared parents can have a hard time - in Russia they are not used to children with special needs. Such children are misunderstood and feared. Society is accustomed to hiding children who are different at home or placing them in orphanages. An animator called to a birthday party may refuse to perform at the celebration, a saleswoman in a store will say a rude word, or the neighbors in the yard will turn away when they meet Elmira and Vasilina.

Elmira and Chris regularly travel to the USA and see that everything is different there. People with special needs are welcomed on the streets. It’s easier for them to appear in society, they don’t feel like strangers, they don’t feel inferior. They feel like they belong. Elmira understands that it took the United States half a century to make such changes, and our country is only at the beginning of a long and painful journey.

I believe that my children are not with disabilities, but with unlimited possibilities,” says Elmira. She really wants that when Vasilina grows up, she could go to a regular school, where she would be treated as an equal. But she is prepared in advance for the fact that she will have to send the girl to a private school, as her eldest, special child does. The boy knows English perfectly. He has been to America. And now he says that he would like to live there, and not in Russia. Because they treat people like people there.

In America, it is difficult to imagine that a deputy would suggest that women have an abortion so as not to give birth to an unusual child. So that one of the representatives of the people could call, even allegorically, people, citizens of the state, inferior. It is unlikely that the United States can assume that people with different traits and different physical characteristics have no future in the country. Such statements are a black mark for the elected person. He will never be chosen anywhere else. Because it’s hard to imagine such people determining the future of a self-respecting, great country. But it's there, overseas.

Perhaps little Vasilina will know this when she grows up.

I am ready to introduce him (Lebedev) to my children. Maybe this will somehow help him and others like him understand our position. The position of people who choose to give birth to such children,” says Elmira.

And little Vasilina runs up and grabs her mother’s pant leg. This child does not evoke pity or sympathy. This is a cheerful little girl who probably shouldn’t even be told that there are uncles somewhere who say that it would have been better for her or people like her not to have been born. It’s also better for this girl not to know that these uncles are responsible for her bright future in this country.