Teen amputee inspires hope

Former Richland student Whitney Mitchell almost didn't live to see her 19th birthday.

The Dallas Morning News reports that in November, Whitney fell ill with what she thought was a bad case of the flu, but it turned out to be an unknown infection.

Within two days, she was on life support and her doctors gave her only a 12 percent chance of survival.

When Whitney's condition deteriorated and she went into septic shock, surgeons were forced to amputate her limbs in order to keep her alive.

"It's a rare thing," said Dr. Jay Pudupakkam, Whitney's attending physician at Medical City Dallas Hospital.

"If she had been a little bit older, she probably could not have lived through something like this," he said.

Whitney was heartbroken at the prospect of losing her limbs, but she refused to wallow in self-pity.

Despite losing her arms and legs, Whitney still remains positive about her life and the future.

"I was really upset," Whitney said in an interview with WFAA News. "But, after a while, I thought about it and I didn't want to sit there and cry and be depressed about it, because there are reasons why things happen."

"I could have not been here," she added. "I could have been dead. I was just happy I was alive to just see my family."

Whitney had to endure months of strenuous rehab.

She needed to relearn how to perform basic tasks like brushing her teeth and navigating in her motorized wheelchair without the use of her limbs.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and her 19th birthday were all celebrated in the teenager's hospital room at Medical City Dallas.

According to WFAA News, Whitney finally returned home in late March, but it was not the same home she left last fall.

The apartment that she had shared with her mother, her 5-year-old brother, and her 3-year-old sister was now too small to accommodate her, and was not wheelchair accessible.

Whitney's mother, Patricia Kirven, moved the family into a house in Garland with an open floor plan and outfitted with wheelchair ramps. The ramps were donated by a church volunteer group.

Whitney made it through her illness, but her life had changed forever.

Before she got sick, Whitney dreamed of a career as an actress and dancer.

She took classes at Richland College, went to the movies with her friends and planned her life together with her new fiancé.

Now, after losing her limbs, Whitney's future is less certain.

However, the teenager is determined to face whatever comes next with her head held high, despite the long recovery ahead of her.

"My plan hasn't really changed," Whitney told Fox News. "I'm still planning to go back to school and finish what I was doing."

"The thing is, you never know what's going to happen. Tomorrow is not promised. Live each day like it's the last," she said.

In the meantime, Whitney just wants to take pleasure in the simple things that she enjoyed before she got sick.

"Eating home-cooked meals again, seeing my friends again, and eventually going back to school," she said in an interview with WFAA News of what she most looked forward to after coming home.

One thing hasn't changed. Despite Whitney's ordeal – her fiancé, Garrett Foster, has remained by her side throughout her long recovery.

Foster, who hopes to join the Air Force, told Fox News that while he was in shock about his girlfriend's condition, it would not change how he felt about her.

"I'm still going to marry her," Foster said. "I just want to be there for her, as much as possible."

"I don't really think I'd be much of a man to leave her with a broken heart on top of all this," he said.

The outpouring of support for Whitney from all over the country has helped ease the transition to her new life.

Wix.com web designers set up a Web site for Whitney pro bono, inviting people to leave messages of support and to donate to her online trust fund, which will be used to pay for Whitney's medical expenses.

Since the website was created, Whitney's family has received a deluge of emails, comments, and letters from people around the globe who have been inspired by her positivity in the face of adversity.

According to The Dallas Morning News, more than $2,000 has been donated to the trust fund.

Fundraisers – such as a line-dancing benefit and a musical at a church in DeSoto – are also set to help alleviate some of the cost of treatment and physical therapy.

Whitney's legs have not yet healed sufficiently for prostheses, but a prosthetics company, Advanced Arm Dynamics, is donating sophisticated robotic arms that will be molded to a color and texture to match her skin.

Despite her disability, Whitney is not giving up on her dreams.

She vows to dance again, and with the staunch support of her friends and family behind her, her loved ones are confident she will.

"There's nothing that can stop her," said her mother to WFAA News. "She will just have to figure out a different way to do things."

Those who wish to donate to Whitney's trust fund can do so by visiting www.whitneymitchell.com.