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Eleven-year-old Allison Holly is all smiles as she enters the swimming pool at Olean Middle School where she is in sixth grade.
Her smile is contagious.
A few months ago Allison wasn't as anxious to go to the pool for gym class, let alone swim in water over her head.
On Monday, she swam four lengths of the pool - 100 yards. Afterward, her smile was as wide as the pool is long.
Due to a birth defect, Allison's right leg is amputated above the knee. She wears a spring-loaded prosthetic leg to walk, but could not use it in the pool.
Her physical therapist at the time, Mary Przybyla knew Allison could strengthen her right leg by swimming. Over the summer, they started rollerblading.
Mrs. Przybyla, a former physical therapist at Olean General Hospital, had been working with Allison for about a year when it came time for her to swim in gym class when school opened in the fall.
When she mentioned Allison's dilemma to Dan Wojcik of Nelson Prosthetics and Orthotics in Orchard Park, Mr. Wojcik offered to make a prosthetic leg with a flipper she could use for swimming. He donated his services and the new prosthesis.
He used an old prosthesis and a flipper from the Olean YMCA to craft a new prosthesis she could use to help her swim, said Mrs. Przybyla. She got it on Halloween and has been swimming with it for about six weeks.
"It's very rare," said Mrs. Przybyla. "They should probably patent it."
When Allison started swimming two or three times a week in the school pool in September for her physical therapy, she had difficulty.
"Usually, children with an amputation do not swim," Mrs. Przybyla said.
Before, Allison got her new prosthesis, she never really swam, said her mother, Ann Holly, a clerk with the county Department of Motor Vehicles.
She would mainly hop around in the YMCA pool with other children at church-sponsored events. The family is very involved with Southside Union Chapel.
When she was in second grade, Allison played on a local soccer team. Mrs. Holly says like other kids, Allison likes to play and watch TV. She also performs puppetry for area groups including senior citizens and nursing homes.
"I went the first day Allison swam with the prosthesis," said Mrs. Holly. "No one knew what would happen. "She started going right away. It was really neat for us to see that.
"She has to refine the way she swims, but the last few weeks she's been making progress. She loves swimming. It's kind of empowering," she added.
Mrs. Przybyla said, "Now Allison is swimming independently with this prosthesis. She is defying the odds. She is a very determined little girl. That why we pushed to get this prosthetic limb for her. The sky's the limit."
Meanwhile, Allison can't wait for the "A" days when she has gym and heads for the pool about noon. Students' schedules are based on alternating A and B days.
On Monday, Allison was swimming with her new physical therapist, Sara Lippert. She began by swimming back and forth across several lanes on the shallow end of the pool.
Then, Allison asked to swim a few laps with a strong front crawl, her favorite stroke. She was also doing the backstroke, breast stroke, and sidestroke.
Is she having fun? "Yes," she beams with a smile. "I like to swim."
Ms. Lippert, a therapist with Olean General Hospital, said Allison still doesn't like to get her head under the water, but she's working on it.
The exercise she's getting in the pool is designed to strengthen her leg, she said. Allison's walking gait will improve as her strength grows. "She's already getting stronger," Ms. Lippert said.
Lyde VanScoy, a YMCA swim instructor who works at the Olean Middle School pool, has been helping Allison since September. She sees the difference the new prosthesis makes.
"The difference is phenomenal," said Ms. VanScoy. "The minute she got the prosthesis was like throwing a light switch. She's got a great attitude. She's just a peach."
Mrs. Holly wasn't sure she wanted to publicize Allison's newfound swimming ability thanks to the prosthesis with the flipper.
But, she said, Mrs. Przybyla convinced her "other kids could benefit from something like this. It can make a difference in someone's life."
In Allison's case, it will help to teach her a more normal walking gait. She's had more than a dozen operations for different medical conditions.
"We kind of balance our life with doctors," said Mrs. Holly. Her husband, Michael, has been a stay-at-home dad so he could be available if Allison needed him. He has started a home business.
"Mary had an idea and worked with Nelson" on the prosthesis idea, said Mrs. Holly. "She's a fireball." She also thanked the YMCA for supplying flippers and a buoyancy vest, and the school district for allowing Allison to use her gym class to get her physical therapy.
Ms. VanScoy swam nearby as Allison swam laps in one lane with Ms. Lippert swimming right next to her.
"This will get her to use both sides of her body more evenly," Ms. VanScoy said. "This will help her motor development. The water offers no impact resistance that will improve her strength and endurance.
"This a sport she can carry with her the rest of her life," she added.
©The Times Herald, Olean, N.Y. 2003
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