Girl Who Lost Prosthetic Legs In Santa Rosa Wildfire Gets Them Replaced
SANTA ROSA (KPIX 5) -- A prosthetics manufacturer is coming to the help of a young amputee who lost everything, including her prosthetic legs in the Santa Rosa wildfire.
Lilly Biagini is about to turn 10. Her mother is a single parent who was renting a home in Santa Rosa. She had no insurance and just lost her job. There is a lag now in her health insurance.
Austin, Texas-based Hangar, Inc., which has prosthetic and orthotics clinics in a number of states as well as in the Bay Area, has agreed to replace Lilly's prosthetic gear.
Lilly was born with arthrogryposis, a severe joint disorder.
A few years ago, she voluntarily had her legs amputated above the knee and was fitted with prosthetics so she would be able to move freely and with independence.
But early on Monday, her mother, Jessica Biagini, got a call saying her grandmother -- Lilly's 86-year-old great-grandmother -- was in the path of a fire.
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Jessica grabbed Lilly and put her in the car to get grandma. They were in their pajamas and zipped up to grab her.
Grandma was gone by the time they arrived. They turned around and drove back home to discover the fire had jumped the freeway and burned down their rental. They lost everything.
They lost Lilly's legs, wheelchair, and her special bathing chair.
They ended up in San Francisco, at the home of Jessica's sister, in their pajamas and nothing else.
On Tuesday, they went to get fitted with "shorties" and to have casts made for Lilly's new legs.
Lilly needs the shorties so mom won't have to carry her everywhere. She wears them at home, to use the bathroom and the kitchen.
Jessica planned to put it all on her credit card, but she soon discovered that Hanger Clinic was donating it all to them for free.