Tanya's Big Decision

It all started the day Tanya Williams went to the doctors. She had been complaining that she couldn’t run as fast as she used to, and she had a lot of pain in her right leg, so her mum took her to the doctor to get her checked out. There he examined her leg, and gravely reported that her leg had a tumour in the thigh bone.
With fear and concern, her mum asked, “Is there any way to get it out?”
The doctor, very sadly, replied that the only way to fix it was to amputate the leg. Horrified, her mum realized that was the only option. She turned to Tanya, who through all of this had sat as still and white as a pillar.
“Tanya? Do you want this?” she asked her gently. Tanya bit her lip and paused. It was a big decision to make. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, and she didn’t try to stop them. She started shaking, and finally nodded slightly.
The next day at school she was very pale and withdrawn, a huge contrast to her normally cheerful nature. When her friend Stephanie asked her what was wrong, she took a deep shuddering breath before answering.
“My right thigh has a tumour and has to be amputated,” she said in a voice shaky with emotion.
Stephanie gasped.
“You mean you won’t have a leg?” she asked fearfully.
Tanya nodded miserably.
Stephanie looked devastated. “There’s no other option?”
Tanya shook her head as Stephanie hugged her tightly. They stood there hugging until Tanya had no more tears left.
“I’ll help you through it,” Stephanie promised sincerely.
On the day of the operation, Tanya and her Mum went to the hospital and walked into the surgery room. Tanya said goodbye to her mum tearfully. 7 weary hours later, Tanya was lying in a hospital bed with one leg and a stump, sleeping peacefully. After a while, she woke up, and her family came in, and gave her some presents and cards. But then her little brother, Sam, asked if she would have to hop everywhere. Tanya didn’t know how to answer.
“We’ll probably get her a fake leg,” her mum said, smiling at Tanya. Tanya knew prosthetic legs were expensive, and she was grateful she was going to get one.
When they did finally get a prosthetic leg, Tanya could hardly believe that after 4 long months she was going to walk again. She tried it on, and walked a few steps, stumbling a bit, as her muscles had gotten weak over time. She gradually got used to the feel and was able to walk out of the hospital. She inspired huge amounts of people to fund paraplegic charities by her cheerful personality and outlook on life.
Tanya was so thankful that she was able to walk again and live a normal life again that she decided to write a story about how she got her prosthetic leg. You’ve just finished reading it now.

FOLLOW US


25

Write4Fun.net was established in 1997, and since then we have successfully completed numerous short story and poetry competitions and publications.
We receive an overwhelming positive feedback each year from the teachers, parents and students who have involvement in these competitions and publications, and we will continue to strive to attain this level of excellence with each competition we hold.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Stay informed about the latest competitions, competition winners and latest news!