From her wheelchair, she strains to do even the most simplest of tasks. Stretching and distorting her body just to wash her hands or unload the dishwasher is a daily occurrence as she must sit on the armrest of her wheelchair to do either. Taking food from the oven gets even more complicated - and dangerous.
Amy has lived with osteogenesis imperfecta congenital, in Gainesville, Fla. for the last 51 years. According to Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, approximately 25,000 to 50,000 people live with the disease in the United States. The gap between the numbers is large because so many people go undiagnosed with mild cases.
Osteogenesis imperfecta not only causes Amy great pain, but it has left her 3-foot-9, 53-pound body twisted and mangled. The government-subsidized pain medication doesn't always do the trick. She uses medicinal marijuana when the pain is too intense - so intense that she risks going to jail to alleviate it.
Faced with all of this, Amy knows her life is harder than most, but she still moves forward.
"My disability occurs when a bathlift fails or a flight of steps occurs. Other than that, life for me is just life for me."
Fragile Bones from Jeremiah Stanley on Vimeo.
