Every Halloween, three-year-old Scarlette embraces having an amputated arm thanks to her mom, who helps her feel extra special on the anniversary of her surgery.
Photo: Simone Tipton
Three-year-old Scarlette was diagnosed with a type of tissue cancer called spindle cell sarcoma as a baby. When she was 10 months old, she had her left arm amputated.
The surgery happened a day before her first Halloween, so her parents use the anniversary to celebrate her survival and teach her to love herself, just the way she is.
Photo: Simone TiptonA fan of dressing up, Scarlette tells people that with two arms she was sick, but with one arm, she's not. Her mom takes it one step further by making her special costumes that incorporate the missing limb. This year she's a skeleton, holding an arm bone in her other hand.
"We just want to make Halloween extra special for her," Scarlette's mom, Simone Tipton, told Mashable. "It’s my husband and I’s favourite holiday, and she had her amputation the day before her first Halloween. She spent it intubated, on all kinds of pain meds, but she was a survivor! We just really want to root it in her soul that she’s amazing no matter what differences she has."
#loveyourself
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Amy is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can also be found in publications like Chatelaine, Toronto Life and The Globe and Mail.