A young woman born without arms is inspiring hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers with videos demonstrating how she carries out a range of daily tasks using her feet.
From eating with chopsticks to applying makeup, the 25-year-old American whose nickname is Tisha UnArmed, reveals how she enjoys an independent lifestyle despite her disability.
Tisha explains when born she has little holes where her upper limbs should be. Her right leg is curved and also shorter than her left leg, by about eight inches, with her heel turned outwards.
She says there is no explanation for the defects, adding: ‘My mother didn’t do any drugs, there was no explosion of chemicals, she didn’t dye her hair or anything.’
Despite doctor’s recommendations to amputate her right leg when she was a toddler, her mother refused pointing out that her daughter would then only be left with one limb.
Tisha said, “My mum was like: What are you kidding me, she has no arms and you want to cut her right leg off? That’s not right, she’s only going to have one limb.”
Dissatisfied with shoe lifts, Tisha now has a specially designed prosthesis which was created to fit the shape of her right heel and foot.
To date Tisha, who lives alone with her dog Jack, has posted videos showing how she makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, applies her makeup, takes a shower, gets dressed, and how drives her car.
Tisha says that getting dressed is one of the most time-consuming rituals, and it’s easier for her to wear simple items of clothing such as tees, pants and dresses.
Holding a small rod with a fish hook attached to the end, between her toes and in her mouth she demonstrates how she puts on a bra, pants and can even do up buttons.
She says, “Getting dressed in the morning can be difficult when you don’t have arms. If I decided to wear a button up shirt or tight pants it would take longer.”
“A lot of what I wear has to do with how easy it is to get on. for example I can’t wear skinny jeans, besides the fact that i just don’t like they way they look they would be extremely hard to get on and off.”
To drive, Tisha uses an adapted car which has been fitted with a range of special devices, including a left foot accelerator, turn knob on the steering wheel, and a voice command computer box which controls functions such as the turn signal and horn.
She steers with her right foot and uses her left foot to work the pedals. Special buttons in the headrest also allow her to activate the voice command computer box. Tisha is truly an exemplary woman, watch and see for yourself:
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