OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A young girl from Beaver Lake shows us nothing is impossible.
When she was born, doctors thought Abigail Harvey, 11, would never walk.
She’s doing much more than that.
Abigail does it all: sports, music, pageants, but she does them a little differently. She was born with spinal bifida, a birth defect that happens during pregnancy.
“It basically means split spine. So her spine was exposed when she was born. Some can have a fluid-filled sac, but the nerves are exposed and they’re damaged. So she doesn’t have feeling from the knees down,” said Sarah Harvey, Abigail’s mom.
Doctors said she would be severely limited.
“We were told when I was pregnant with her that she would never talk, never walk, never function in any way because of what they were able to see with scans,” said Sarah Harvey.
But she proved them wrong. She started walking at age two.
“She walks now with only SMO’s and she does use her wheelchair for long distances or in big crowds just for her safety,” said Sarah Harvey.
And she hasn’t slowed down. At just five years old, she started wheelchair basketball, which is harder than it looks.
“It took me a very long time to make a basket. The dribbling is different,” said Abigail Harvey.
She also plays softball with Team Impact, which pairs up kids with disabilities and college athletes.
When she’s not on the court or in the outfield, she’s on the stage. At seven years old she tried her first pageant for Nebraska Miss Amazing and she won.
“This year I was chosen as one of Nebraska’s representatives to go to the national event and I was chosen to be runner-up queen in the national event,” said Abigail Harvey.
Her mom Sarah says her growth is amazing.
“She’s had 31 surgeries and she doesn’t bat an eye just wants to be out there and play,” said Sarah Harvey.
And Abigail wants other kids to know: the sky’s the limit.
“Don’t let other people tell you, you can’t. You prove them wrong and you do it. You do what you want to do in life,” said Abigail Harvey.
Abigail’s next goal is to take on wheelchair track and tennis in junior high.
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