SOPHI GREEN: I use my feet to paint, draw
and write, and paint other people’s nails, and eat.
Sophi Green: Ready, Connor?
COMM: Little Sophi Green was born without
arms but she hasn’t let that hold her back.
SOPHI GREEN: I like dancing because it makes
me feel happy. When my brother Connor plays the piano, I like to make up dances. The hardest
thing for me to do is keep my balance.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: Sophi can really do basically
anything any other seven-year-old can do.
JEREMY GREEN: People will often ask, “How
did you teach her to do this or that with her feet?” And the answer is we didn’t
teach her, that’s what she had and that’s what she used. So she’s learnt to adapt
in so many ways. Sophi rarely complains about her disability, she does occasionally, and
once in a while she’ll get down, but for the most part she is very upbeat and optimistic.
COMM: Sophi is one of ten siblings, seven
of whom are adopted and also have disabilities.
Sophi: So I’ll just try to kick the ball?
Brother: Yeah, go kick it. Sophi: Okay!
Jeremy: Whoa! Sophia got it! Brother: I’ll hold that.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: We had our first adoption
and went over and actually saw it with our own eyes, saw the cribs lined outside and
children reaching out their arms and asking for you to take them home.
COMM: Parents Christianne and Jeremy Green
adopted Sophi from China when she was two years old.
Jeremy: Are you pushing the buttons with your toes?
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: She had these beautiful
big eyes and they just seemed to be calling out for someone to come and get her. We actually
noticed her eyes before anything else, before even thinking about the fact that she didn’t
have arms. Jeremy: Can you get up? That’s pretty flexible
right there. Christianne: Yeah!
COMM: The Greens also adopted Sophi’s
elder sister, Lexie.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: Lexie’s blind. They do
everything together, one is the arms and one is the eyes.
SOPHI GREEN: We are like really best friends,
because we got adopted on the same day, and I think that’s really cool.
COMM: A popular student at school, Sophi is
thriving in the first grade.
LANA POPPLETON: Obviously Sophi writing is
really impressive, that she can write with her feet and I was also really impressed at
how confident she is. All the kids love her in class and she is like best friends with
everybody.
COMM: But fitting in wasn’t always easy.
When she first started school, Sophi struggled with the questions and looks she received.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: A few of the kids were
really staring at her and they asked her, you know, “Why don’t you have arms?”
She burst into tears, she said, “I don’t want to go to school.” And so after that,
I decided to go in and talk to the class on the first day. We made a little video of her,
showing all the things that I can do.
Sophi Green: “Dog trying peanut butter.
This is how you feed it.”
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: We went and talked to the
children and they were wonderful! They were very receptive.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: One thing that she gets
asked a lot is, “Why don’t you have arms?” And sometimes she’ll say, “I buried them!”
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: Doctors and professionals
have agreed that prosthetic arms are basically for aesthetics, it’s just to look like other
people. She wouldn’t have any control over them.
COMM: As Sophi gets older, her family understands
she’ll face new challenges but they believe that with her incredible attitude, nothing
can stop her.
CHRISTIANNE GREEN: She has so much personality,
perseverance, spirit. I don’t think not having arms will hold her back from doing anything.
JEREMY GREEN: She’s outgoing, she’s spunky and tenacious. She is fun, she doesn’t back
down from a challenge.
SOPHI GREEN: Don’t let anyone stop you from doing something you really love to do!