Happy Holly.

Holly was 14 years old when we first met her in 2004.  She had and still does have, the most endearing personality.  She was so sweet and happy every single time we worked with her over many years.  Holly has a condition called Williams syndrome.  Williams syndrome is a rare genetic condition caused by missing genes and occurs in approximately 1/10,000 births. It is characterized by medical problems, including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays, and learning disabilities.  People with Williams syndrome also usually have characteristic facial features. 

On the upside for Holly she was always cooperative and willing to have a go, as long as she felt safe and secure in what we were doing.  Her love of talking and chatting and her expressive language skills always made her Heartwell sessions fun.  Another Williams syndrome personality trait includes people being excessively friendly and trusting of strangers.  We usually had to keep an eye out to make sure Holly’s general exuberance for life did not “freak out” any of our milder mannered children that may have been having a session at the same time.

And Holly loved music.  She would bring her own CD’s in and we would have to play them loud and proud.  And she would sing along, loud and proud.

One of Holly’s medical issues were her internally rotated hips, coupled with shallow hip sockets and pronating feet.  As a result, Holly would often stand with her knees close together and feet wide to gain better balance.  One of our challenges at the Heartwell Foundation was to strengthen her lower limbs, so she could stand taller and have better balance.  Of it course all of that needed to be achieved while having fun!

One of our memorable achievements with Holly over the years was her learning to safely use the gym cardio equipment.  Holly had a great fear of being off the ground and a fear of moving and noisy objects.  Her parents were so delighted when they witnessed her jogging on the treadmill for the first time.  It was a great step forward for Holly to have a life long love of exercise.

Holly and Scott in the gym