by Carolyn Sampson | Jul 15, 2018 | Blog, US Thalidomide Story
Summer 1979 “Oh my God! Were you a thalidomide baby?” A gray-haired man stood staring at my disfigured arms and hands. Trapped in the aisle, my heart raced. I had never heard the word thalidomide and had no idea that anything or anyone other than God was responsible...
by Carolyn Sampson | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog, US Thalidomide Story
In spite of the many blessings in my life, I’ve always felt something was missing. I didn’t even know what it was until I found it. Three weeks ago, I had the surreal experience of meeting fourteen other people who share my rare birth defect: phocomelia (deformities...
by Carolyn Sampson | Jul 16, 2017 | Blog, Disability Rights, US Thalidomide Story
For more than 45 years I worked hard to hide my physical differences and associated struggles, first by instinct and later as a defense against unwanted attention. Each decade became more difficult until I could no longer hide my escalating physical challenges. It...
by Carolyn Sampson | Jun 28, 2016 | Blog, US Thalidomide Story
Until recently, I did not identify as a person with a disability. When I was a child, I knew deep inside that having an obvious birth defect was a source of shame to your family, even if nobody ever said that. Or maybe because nobody said that. In fact, the truth...
by US Thalidomide Survivors | Feb 14, 2014 | News Coverage, US Thalidomide Story
Eileen Cronin was 3 years old when she noticed that, unlike her siblings, she had no legs. Like most thalidomide survivors in the United States, Eileen was told by her mother that her disability was God’s will. She only discovered the true cause of her birth...
by US Thalidomide Survivors | Jan 28, 2014 | News Coverage, US Thalidomide Story
MERMAID A Memoir of Resilience, written by Eileen Cronin, a member of US Thalidomide Survivors, has been named a Best Memoir by Oprah’s Book Club. Read the review on Oprah.com
Recent Comments