Harmonie-Rose Allen learned to walk on prosthetic limbs in 2017
A 5-year-old from the U.K., who lost her limbs to meningitis, isn’t letting her disability hold her back.
Harmonie-Rose Allen was just 10 months old when she contracted the infection, which damaged her arms and legs so badly that doctors were forced to amputate, along with the tip of her nose, her parents told Meningitis.org.
But in the years since, Allen, of Bath, England, has defied stereotypes, working hard to cross the finish line at a half-marathon earlier this year, and even taking part in gymnastics classes.
Mom Freya Hall recently told Somerset Live that Harmonie has been going to gymnastics class every week, and enjoys jumping on the trampoline and practicing backward rolls.
“She just asked to do it and we were a bit wary at first,” Hall. “She was a bit nervous to begin with, but since then she’s never looked back. In terms of the moves and apparatus, the coaches help her, and she just finds her own way of doing things.”
Hall said the experience has been overwhelmingly positive for Harmonie, who even has some new pals in class.
“To begin with, some children did look at her a bit in gym class, but she’s made so many friends, and she’s really enjoying it,” she said, noting that her daughter does not wear her prosthetic limbs during class.
Harmonie was given just a 10 percent chance of survival when she was first taken to the hospital as a baby.
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But since then, she’s bounced back, and in 2017, took her first steps on a new pair of $13,000 prosthetic limbs, according to the BBC. The limbs were reportedly purchased for her with money raised through the Hope 4 Harmonie fund.
She even made headlines in March after she participated in the Bath Half Marathon, appearing on the popular morning show Good Morning Britain.
“We brought the sunshine to London,” she told host Piers Morgan during her appearance alongside her aunt.
Harmonie was pushed in a wheelchair for most of the race, but walked the final few feet on her prosthetic legs.
“We stopped a few times and Harmonie did get a bit bored, but she soldiered on,” Hall told the BBC. “She was such a little star.”