AttitudeLive - Where Are They Now? Bea Learns to Dance

At just four years old, Bea Wuts and her parents made an agonizing decision to have both Bea’s feet amputated and replaced with artificial legs. Now eight years old, Bea is a keen swimmer and horse rider… but what she really wants to do is dance.

Hello my name's Bea.

Welcome to my world.

This is my family.

This is a picture that my
sister Maddy drew.

She's away at camp
at the moment.

It's called The Underwater Mellon Man.

This is my room.

This is one of my toy's
called Lightening.

I like to read lots of books.

Coraline is my best because she
is very strong and brave.

In the last four years, I feel better now.

I can be free to be me
and I can be myself.

I can be Bea.

I'm going to show you
my most interesting thing.

I have a thing called Arthogryposis.

It means that my feet and
ankles were twisted.

This is what I call the inside house
and these are mum's plants.

I have Arthogryposis and it's
in my hands too.

But I get around really good
with my hands as well.

Arthogryposis is a condition
that affects the joints.

And it starts to make it's
presence known in utero.

Bea has amazingly gotten away with
only have her hands and feet affected.

Usually it's a whole
combination of body parts.

Feet, hands, elbows, shoulders,
hips and knees.

And sometimes curvature
of the spine.

So limited movement of the arms,
possibly internally rotated shoulders.

Bea's the only one I've come across
that's only feet and hands.

Bea: And here is the Tarzan swing.

Before my operation, I had
no stability in my feet.

Or any balance.

And it would take a long time
to do running or canter, or gallop.

Or whatever I had to do
I couldn't do.

When I look back at footage of Bea
walking around and playing outside,

I remember that feeling
that I had...

It was such a horrible feeling
watching her move,

and thinking about how painful
and wrong it looked

and must feel for her body.

When I was four, I couldn't walk
as well as other people could.

And people use to say that my
feet were like jelly beans.

They thought that we could
get new legs and new feet.

Her feet aren't functional.
They cause her pain.

They don't look very
comfortable at all to walk on.

And they're damaging
the rest of her body.

Because she has no bend in
her foot to get herself forward,

she twists her hips and
so she sashays on tiptoes.

Recently she's started to
get pain in her hip.

If she's on her feet a lot
during the day...

then at night it will come back with a
vengeance and she'll be really sore.

And she will have broken sleep.

When she was seven days old...

an orthopaedic surgeon put
her in full leg casts.

When she was four months old,
she had a tendon release surgery.

Then immediately after that
she went into DB boots.

It was really painful because I had to
push her feet down into right angle.

So there was lots of screaming.

When she was two, she
had a huge surgery,

which was a total foot
reconstruction on both sides.

They took the cast off and she
couldn't even place her foot in my hand.

It was so sensitive.

And five minutes later after that
appointment we were sent to orthotics

to force her feet back in those boots.

And so we would put them
on at 9pm at night,

she'd scream in pain until
about 5am in the morning.

Then we'd take them off and then
she's sleep for four hours.

And then she would have a four
hour sleep in the afternoon.

And at 9pm we'd put them on
again and there'd be screaming.

So when she was finally able to put
weight on them and they were flat.

It was for three weeks that
she was able to wear shoes

and they were flat and then
they started to go back again.

After four years of struggling
with surgeries and her pain,

also realising that she'll probably
end up with badly damaged hips,

having curvature of the spine,
benig in a wheelchair,

being really inactive and being an
angry person who's always in pain.

We just thought that surely
amputation would be a better option.

Bea: You get them on like this.

I really like them because
they look cool with my skirt.

Let's play hide and seek.

It's a big decision to make...

but it's a big decision to decide
to have a child.

You have to make a decision and this is
the decision that we're deciding to make.

You'd be inhuman to feel like it
was easy and to not have doubts.

By doing the amputation,
hopefully it's a one off thing,

and then she gets the prosthetics
and then she has a great childhood.

She'll be more able bodied
with prosthetics than without.

Have a good day at school.

See ya.

Love you.

Love you too.

Bye dad.

Socially, I think that Bea
sometimes struggles...

because all through kindy and
through that time of her life...

she was always in pain.

So to play freely it's
a distracting pain.

Bea: At school I feel confidant and
not confidant at the same time.

Like I'm in between.

In school there's this friend
called Kimberly,

and she makes me so happy.

Good morning Bea.

Have a lovely day.

Kimberly is my best friend
that I can remember.

Also are Makayla and Jasmine.

Kimberly and Bea met when
Kimberly came into class...

and her desk was put
facing Bea's desk.

Bea said that they
looked at each other...

and Bea saw Kimberly's
hearing aides...

and Kimberly looked
at Bea's feet.

And then Kimberly said,
"We're made for each other."

Kimberly is very protective of Bea,

and sometimes she comes out
with really wonderful things like...

"You can play with me but you just
be yourself and do what you want to do."

Things like that.

Bea: In the playground when
I play with my friends

I feel like a team, like in the group.

And I feel like I can do
anything with them.

Her strength is nothing I've ever seen
before in an adult or a child.

She biked to school...

she was determined to bike to
school when she was six.

And she was sweating and her
face was really serious.

And she was riding this little
bike with trainer wheels

and it was chunky concrete.

And I was saying to her,
"Are you alright?"

And she was just saying,
"I'm great."

And she biked the whole
way to school.

She would have been so
sore and awkward...

but she refused to stop.

The thing that I like about
Napier and Hawkes Bay

is that there are heaps of shops
that you can go shopping in.

That's my favourite part.

Inflatable World is my favourite place.

I've been there it's very fun.

But I hate it when I have to race
against my friend to climb up.

I always lose.

Same.

Having no feet feels like...

like I have no things
to stable me up.

Because I always wobbly
a bit when I stand still.

So I can't be stable.

It feels sad doesn't it.

Hmmm.

But it also feels exciting
because I run quite fast.

Yeah you do.

Kimberly: My flavour is boysenberry.
What's yours?

Bea: My flavour is Mute, it's chocolate
chip and it's a double scoop!

And cookies and cream.

Yum it tastes delicious.

What are you going to
be when you grow up?

I am going to be hairdresser.

I think I'm going to be
a fashion designer.

Like design clothes
and sell them.

We can work together.

Yeah I could do the hair
and you do fashion.

Fashion for fashion.

(Laughs)

Bea: When I was four, my
mum told me a story

to help me understand what was
going to happen to my legs.

Are you going to be
the girl in the story?

Yeah.

Once upon a time there
was a big giant man.

And he made everything.

He made all the cars, all the plants and
the pets and all of the people.

One day he was in the middle
of making a little girl...

called Bea.

Called Bea and he heard a really
loud banging noise outside.

He quickly went and rushed outside.

Then the little girl thought
she'd like to get up

and look at what happened
outside too.

And when she got up and tried
to walk she discovered

that he hadn't finished her off properly
and she couldn't walk properly.

And then one day her mum
and dad said to her...

"Guess what?"

"The doctor said that he can
take off your feet and get new ones."

Build you knew ones.

New ones.

They went to the hospital and the
little girl had some medicine

and then she fell asleep.

When she woke up she looked
under the blankets

there were no feet at
the end of her legs.

Do you know what
she thought then?

What?

She felt a little bit worried

and then she remembered
what that meant.

That meant that she was
getting new feet.

I don't think that there's any question
that anyone could answer,

or anything anyone could say that would
make me feel 100% fine about it.

But I think there would be
something unusual about you...

if you could feel 100% fine about
someone cutting off your child's feet.

For some people, amputating her feet may
seem like an incredibly dramatic way

of coping with the situation when they
may not see the alternative as being so bad.

Hello Grandpa.

I'll leave you in two minutes
when you go hunting for leopards.

Goodbye.

Arggh!

These are my stumps.

And I got new feet.

Amazingly the difference in her,
not just physically but psychologically

from the minute they were gone
has been incredible.

Two days after she's come out from under
general and having her feet amputated.

I lifted the covers up and
there were no feet there

and there was blood
on the plaster cast.

And I felt a bit shaky about it.

Her feet were a huge
part of my life.

I use to fall asleep
holding them.

Every night I'd be on my
knees, holding her feet.

They represented her to me
and they were gone.

She lifted the blankets up
and she looked at me.

And I was so nervous and really aware of
how I was going to respond to her

and where that would
lead in her mind.

And she looked at me and she said,
"Mum I've got no feet!"

It was like Christmas.

Really soon you're going to be able to
run and dance like that.

I'm going to get my new feet!

It was really moving the first
time I saw Bea walk on legs

because I hadn't imagined
seeing her with feet.

It was really strange
and really amazing.

And I think for her it
was amazing as well.

First we put on a sock and
that always goes on first.

And then a liner that's
soft and spongey.

That will slide all the way in.

Look at you!

Try and take a few steps.

Have a walk Bea.

I'm going to walk the
whole way over there.

I'm not puffed out.

I can't believe how
tall she is.

It's way more overwhelming
than I thought it would be.

Way more.

Because she's never ever
walked like that.

It's better.

She's never had feet
that were that shape.

I think she really enjoys
pushing herself.

So having prosthetics she
pushes herself in different ways.

She would practice walking uphill
using just the tippy toes of the feet.

And trusting that even though they weren't
her feet they would still carry her.

So she could do more.

The horse riding for Bea
has been huge.

It's not just the riding
of the horse,

but being able to have a relationship
with animals in general.

Hi welcome back.

Are you ready to ride?

Yes.

Dyon, the riding instructor has
become a really special person to Bea.

The relationship that they have
and the constantly evident belief

that Dyon has in Bea's ability.

You've cantered on three
horses now eh?

Yes.

Johnty, Georgie...
and Fred.

At Riding for the Disabled
we have a huge range of people

that come to us with
a range of issues.

Bea's realised that this is
something she can do

the same as anybody else.

It doesn't depend on having feet,
she doesn't need them

and she's not at any disadvantage.

Bea's relationship with the
horses is really good.

She's very compassionate and thinks a lot
about what her horses are enjoying.

Fred hasn't had any work today
you're his first rider.

Do you think he's looking
forward to it?

Yes.

So go through this gap.

Come on.

Get him into a nicer
walk than that Bea.

When I'm riding a horse, I feel
nervous, free and happy.

Riding a horse is hard for me...

because my legs aren't stable enough
to balance on the horse.

When I kick I want the horse to
realize that I want to walk.

And whenever I kick,
it canters.

A while ago she was
riding in a saddle,

but she found it really difficult
because it didn't work with the stirrups.

And riding with her prosthetic legs
didn't work for her either

because she couldn't feel what
she was doing with them.

So a bare back pad is a
better option for her.

They're good for developing their seat
and their core strength and balance,

which Bea will definitely need.

(Sings)

Bea: Thane has been my
friend for two years.

And he's made me a painting
of a bird and a jug

and now he's made me a song.

(Sings)

Amazingly young lady called Bea

was an eight year old twin amputee.

She said I don't need feet
to make me complete.

I can still kick your ass
with my knee.

Bea: When I was dancing with Thane
and singing the song with him

I felt free and I feel like
I can do anything

and I'm ready to dance.

Thane: Try putting the ball down
and spinning as fast as you can.

(Sings)

Kicking that ass

Kicking that ass

Now without the ball.

Just you spinning on your feet.

Kicking that ass

Kicking that ass.

A personal thing that I
want to do is dance.

And I really feel like
I can do it.

Nothing is going to stop me.

There are two things
that Bea does

where I get to see her
free of any worry.

One of them is when she's
in the pool swimming.

The other one is when we
have music playing

and we're dancing together
in the lounge.

But she also has
that desire to perform.

Hi Bea how are you?

Good.

My name's Leanne
nice to meet you.

This is Corrine, studio director.

And Madison, senior dancer
and Corrine's daughter.

We're going to start
with some bar work.

Come a little closer and
stand up nice and tall.

Take our right foot and take it forward
and then bring it back.

I really want to see how
far she'll go

and what she can do
with this dancing

because she's got the
determination physically

and she can really focus
on pushing herself.

Bring your right leg up

and when it lowers down squeeze
your stomach nice and tight.

Bend your right leg.

Down, 5, 6, 7, 8.

It's been a really good experience
having been to the studio today

and looking at what
she's capable of.

She's a very confident
young lady.

We would love to help
her grow in her dance

and her enjoyment
of movement.

Two steps together
out to the side.

So right, together and
finding that centre.

Right, together, swing and clap
and swing and clap.

Bea: One day I would like
to be doing tap dancing.

And I could be in a concert
and everybody would look at me.

Dancing it feels like I'm free and I can
do anything with anyone.

I wish Kimberly could
see me right now.

I have no doubt whatsoever
that Bea will grow up to be

a really strong, confident
and powerful woman.

And do whatever she wants.

You know what I really
want to do now?

What?

I want to hug you.

Me too.

Where are we going to get
our ice cream?

There.

Yeah!!

Ice cream!!