Dear Sir, - A certain amount of interest seems to be springing up in your magazine with regard to girls who have lost a leg or an arm. They all seem to take a good deal of pride in the fact that they get about on the daintiest of crutches and wear high-heeled shoes, and do not seem at all unhappy because they are crippled.
I wonder if they were formed as I am if they would still be proud?
My right leg stopped growing soon after I was nine, as a result of a long illness, and since then I have been hopelessly crippled.
I do not complain, as it would not be of the slightest use; but cannot say that I am proud of my crippled leg, and certainly make the most of what little charm I am blessed with; but I never hope to be married, as my deformity is too great for that.
The result of the illness is that while the rest of my body developed at the normal rate, leaving me, at the age of 26, with a height of 5 feet 6 inches, a slim figure, a well developed bust, and a face that is most certainly not ugly - many of my friends say that I am pretty. My right foot fails to reach the ground by just over 14 inches.
The whole leg is no bigger than it was when I was a child of nine, and it cannot be used properly as the muscles have become atrophied, with the result that I cannot walk on it even with the aid of extensions.
I use a hoop-iron extension bolted to my right shoe, and with its aid I can stand unaided by my crutch, which is a great aid in carrying out my household work; but when I go out in the street, unless I am going to stand still for any length of time shopping, etc.- I leave it off and use the crutch, a well padded one of the armpit type.
The extension being of such a great height is very awkward and heavy, and requires a considerable effort to move it with my withered leg; but it is far more useful than one of made of cork or wood would be.
When wearing it I have, of course, to wear a low heeled shoe or both feet, but I love to wear a nice heel whenever possible. But my heels are never of the height written in your paper, as the highest I have ever possessed is barely 3 inches high, as my foot is so small I have to buy a single shoe, size 4, for my left foot, and a child's size for the right foot, and even my stockings have to be of different sizes.
I have been advised several times to have the leg amputated, but as the stump, if I were left with one, would be too small and weak to bear the weight of an artificial limb, I should be worse off than I am now, as the bad leg is able to support my weight when standing still, so I just make the best of a bad job; and as I have never known what it is to be a normally shaped woman, I suppose I da not feel it so much as I should if I had become crippled later in life.
I always dress as smartly as I can, and I know that I attract a great deal of attention when I am out in the street, as I realise the difference that the use of a lipstick, powder and pretty clothes make; but I wish I could meet a man who could take an interest in me, as our friend "Helen Fivetoes" has done. I know there are many such men in the world, because of the number of times men have stopped to look at, and even follow, me in the street.
I have written this letter in an endeavour to point out the difference between a person who is one-legged and one who is really hopelessly crippled and who has no possible hope of ever being otherwise. But do not think that I am crying against my fate, as there are certain advantages in being as I am, which partially balance the inability of being unable to walk anywhere without the aid a crutch and a yard of hoop-iron.
Yours truly,
One And A Half