BALTIMORE — Marion Durfee is 4 years old, and she is learning to swim — kicking, reaching, rolling over to save herself, and blowing bubbles with the best of them. She does it all with one arm.
Marion was born with amniotic band syndrome, a condition in which fiber-like bands wrap around a developing limb, preventing blood flow and growth.
Her mother, Ally Durfee, said the diagnosis came before Marion was even born.
She was born with one arm. She can swim. 🏊 Meet Marion. ✨
"We found out while I was pregnant and so not really sure like why it was caused or what to do, so it was, it was a shock and then worry if she was going to be OK." Ally said.
Ally and her husband, Liam Durfee, were first-time parents with no personal experience with a differently abled person. But once Marion arrived, their perspective shifted.
"Once we, you know, met her, a lot of those concerns went away. We realized that it wasn't going to hold her back," Ally said.
The family found their way to the Kennedy Krieger Bennett Blazers Adaptive Sports program, where Marion is working on motor development — building the balance, strength, and confidence that will carry her through life.
Gwena Herman, founder and co-director of Bennett Blazers Adaptive Sports, said the program's philosophy starts early and runs deep.
"Like any other child, um, they need to be able to participate and be active, so our program starts at motor development which Marion is in — that point you're just working on building confidence, um, because confidence will carry them through all of life," Herman said.
Herman said the program's guiding principle is simple but powerful.
"Our motto is to teach kids they can before somebody tells them that they can't. So when the earlier on that you teach them that, um, the better off they're gonna be all around — for the child and the the parents," Herman said.
For Ally and Liam, the experience has shaped them as much as it has shaped Marion.
"There's like no one way to do things and so it might be different than how myself or other people might do it, but that doesn't mean she can't," Ally said.
Liam said the journey has made him a better listener.
"Just being able to listen to her better, listen to um the challenges that she's going through, trying to empathize with them," Liam said.
For more information about Bennett Blazers Adaptive Sports, click here.
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