No Limbs No Limits | Journeyman Pictures

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KIDS SHOUTING 00:00:28:03

I want to tell you a story 00:00:35:01

A story about an extraordinary girl 00:00:37:23

Who was born with the most unimaginable disability 00:00:41:09

This girl is so special 00:00:46:08

There are only 6 others like her, living in the world 00:00:49:06

Joanne was born on the 24th of April 1996 00:00:54:15

With a medical condition known as... 00:00:59:18

Total Amelia 00:01:02:04

This means, 00:01:04:16

she was born without limbs 00:01:06:09

PIANO PLAYS 00:01:09:14

Growing up in a family with 3 older brothers and 1 older sister 00:01:13:17

Joanne was simply adored 00:01:18:23

And for the past 16 years 00:01:22:17

they have all come together 00:01:25:17

to help her achieve 00:01:27:16

what others would deem impossible 00:01:29:06

This is a tale of honesty, 00:01:33:16

truth, dignity, and bravery 00:01:36:10

It is the story of Irish born 00:01:41:01

Joanne O'Riordan 00:01:44:23

Today, we are celebrating Girls and ICT Day 00:02:38:09

and we have a special event here in New York 00:02:41:08

focusing on information communication technologies 00:02:43:23

and what it can do for girls 00:02:47:16

If we want more balance in the representation 00:02:51:03

in the development of ICT between female and male 00:02:55:07

then we still have to push quite a bit 00:02:59:12

KNOCKING 00:03:09:02

Close doors in space 00:03:16:17

Good sleep? 00:03:20:21

Yeah, but you snore 00:03:23:03

- I did not snore!

- Yes you did 00:03:24:15

But after I told you to shut up, I slept 00:03:29:11

Can I spray your clothes? 00:03:31:18

COUGHS 00:03:38:16

You should give us a run through of your speech now 00:03:39:22

Why?

- Just, you know, warm us all up 00:03:43:05

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls 00:03:46:02

Be prepared for the technology speech, by Joanne O'Riordan 00:03:49:09

Ah the dog is so cute 00:04:00:11

APPLAUSE 00:04:04:04

Good afternoon everyone, 00:04:17:07

Yay 00:04:20:18

My name is Joanne O'Riordan and firstly I'd like to thank all those at the UN 00:04:23:17

and the people from the International Telecommunication Union 00:04:28:06

for this amazing and unique opportunity to speak in front of you today 00:04:31:08

Being invited to New York the week of my 16th birthday is simply unbelievable 00:04:35:18

As you can see I was born without limbs, but my motto in life is no limbs, no limits 00:04:40:12

APPLAUSE 00:04:47:01

The disability I have is known as Total Amelia 00:04:52:04

and it is one of the rarest conditions known to us 00:04:54:22

I believe there are only 7 people living in the world with this physical form 00:04:57:15

And furthermore, there is no medical explanation as to why I was born this way 00:05:01:13

However, my family and I have never allowed it to hold me back 00:05:05:23

From an early age, I have always relied on the use of technology 00:05:10:08

to help advance my abilities 00:05:12:23

My parents have told me that when I was 1 00:05:14:23

I first began to explore the use of technology with our old computer 00:05:16:23

I figured out how to use the software 00:05:20:22

by simply moving my hand and chin at a faster speed 00:05:22:16

Today I can type 36 words a minute 00:05:26:06

And for someone with no limbs, I think that's an incredible achievement in itself 00:05:28:09

APPLAUSE 00:05:31:21

I also do not look at the word impossible and see it as impossible 00:05:38:01

I look at that word and my life and say I'm possible 00:05:41:19

APPLAUSE 00:05:45:13

When I knew I was expecting Joanne, pregnant with Joanne, I... 00:05:58:06

I wouldn't be a person for going to the doctors, 00:06:02:05

I never went to the doctors when I was having Gillian and the 3 boys 00:06:04:23

and with Joanne it was the same 00:06:10:08

and in February I thought I'll have to go to the doctors 00:06:12:09

So I went and um, and I remember saying to the doctor 00:06:16:20

you know, was I maybe on the small side? 00:06:21:23

and he was saying 'No, you're fine, you're grand' and I was saying yeah 00:06:25:19

I suppose I am because it's 8 years since I had a baby and 00:06:29:15

you'd be after forgetting 00:06:33:14

and anyway I'd never really been big with any of the other 4 00:06:35:02

so why should Joanne be any different? 00:06:38:09

So, erm... 00:06:41:18

I got the appointment in for March 00:06:44:02

We went up and I went in, on my own 00:06:47:08

and the scan was done 00:06:52:07

And Maire, the woman who did the scan, 00:06:55:08

Do you know, would I mind... 00:06:59:18

if she brought in the doctor to do the scan as well 00:07:03:03

and then I thought, there's something wrong here, I know there's something wrong 00:07:07:17

But I suppose, what I was to be told 00:07:12:18

I could never have imagined. 00:07:16:03

So erm, the doctor came in 00:07:18:20

and he did the scan 00:07:21:22

and the next thing he just told me 00:07:24:11

that Joanne was going to be born as she was 00:07:26:23

and I was just, lying there, and... 00:07:29:06

SOBBING 00:07:43:06

And so Maire then asked me, was there somebody with me? 00:07:48:07

So I said my husband was in the car 00:07:53:06

So, she sent for him to come in 00:07:58:15

Then I got the funny part which was 00:08:04:12

the doctor just said, he goes, 00:08:07:10

oh bring in your husband and I'll tell the two of you together 00:08:09:11

you're just after telling me... 00:08:12:14

how you telling me that you're gonna tell the two of us together? 00:08:15:15

So, we went out to the door and I had tissue in my hand 00:08:19:01

and Joe could see me in the mirror and he knew that there was something wrong 00:08:23:22

So, erm 00:08:28:16

So he came in and the doctor took us into the room and he told us, 00:08:31:19

that from what he could see, Joanne was going to be born without her limbs 00:08:36:08

And, my first reaction was like, 00:08:42:10

how dare you talk to me like that about our baby 00:08:45:23

but that was my way of coping 00:08:49:09

pretending to myself, what would the doctors know, after all this was our baby 00:08:51:16

PIANO PLAYS 00:08:58:07

Just imagine, somebody born without limbs 00:09:03:03

Just take it into your head, to see what, what the person looks like 00:09:06:09

And then, 00:09:12:06

one day I was going over to the garage over to go out to run an errand 00:09:13:13

And Gillian was in the car with me, sitting up in the front seat of the car 00:09:16:22

and she was sitting up in the front seat of the car and she had her legs under her bum 00:09:20:23

and she had her hands behind her back 00:09:24:22

and when I looked over to the passenger side 00:09:27:01

I could just see Gillian without actually any limbs 00:09:31:07

and it was fine 00:09:33:21

Just then it struck me the way Joanne would actually look like 00:09:35:01

And, once I got that into my head 00:09:38:19

how Joanne would look, I was fine with it 00:09:41:22

MUSIC PLAYS 00:09:44:16

Get your bottle 00:09:53:13

Good girl! 00:09:59:07

Did the doctors then have everything in place for Joanne 00:10:08:06

or was there some sort of a plan as to what was gonna happen with Joanne 00:10:11:15

No, they had nothing, because 00:10:16:03

as far as the doctors were concerned it was a need to know basis 00:10:17:13

and they'll answer any question that you put to them 00:10:21:08

but they didn't know, they hadn't a clue 00:10:24:19

they had never experienced a child born missing their 4 limbs 00:10:26:18

they also had said that the percentage... 00:10:31:05

the chances of Joanne surviving were very slim 00:10:33:11

So as far as the fellas there were concerned, 00:10:36:20

they felt they didn't have to put anything in place 00:10:38:23

They had us convinced so much, that we actually bought a grave for Joanne 00:10:41:07

We went, I remember going to the graveyard on Easter Sunday 00:10:47:14

and we picked out, we picked out the grave for Joanne 00:10:52:11

and the reason we picked the grave that we picked, 00:10:56:22

was because the sun was shining there 00:11:00:19

Yeah 00:11:02:22

- And I thought...

that's nice because the sun was shining down there 00:11:05:07

and I always wanted the sun shining on our baby 00:11:08:11

And erm, 00:11:12:18

they told me to come in the following Tuesday, the 23rd of April 00:11:15:04

and that Joanne would be born on the Wednesday by caesarean seciton 00:11:21:03

Then Joanne was born, at quarter past 9 00:11:26:15

MUSIC PLAYS 00:11:29:09

Just kinda the first look 00:11:44:20

after we were talking about how Joanne was born 00:11:46:19

the next thing that popped into my head was 00:11:48:21

the first look 00:11:50:20

What I mean by the first look was, 00:11:52:03

when I looked at Joanne, when I saw Joanne, I thought that... 00:11:54:04

That was the next step, to me, in my part of it 00:11:57:18

and I went into the neonatal 00:12:02:08

and without even being told where to go 00:12:04:23

I went straight over to this cot and she was wrapped up 00:12:07:04

like you know the child that’s inside there, 00:12:10:13

I wouldn't even know she had been missing her limbs 00:12:12:13

And I just looked down at her and do you know what, 00:12:15:18

she was like a little angel lying there 00:12:18:02

and we bonded the minute we met. 00:12:20:09

I remember around then I was taken into the recovery room 00:12:28:02

and I remember asking, is it a boy or a girl? 00:12:31:19

And you said it was a girl 00:12:35:04

And I said, what is she? I remember, alwayslike, what is she? 00:12:36:19

and you told us she was, as the doctors told us she would be 00:12:40:20

And I remember, so cold 00:12:45:02

I was frozen, I'll never forget it, the coldness that came over me 00:12:47:17

and I remember tears, like just coming to my eyes, 00:12:51:09

thinking, they were right, even though I knew they were right 00:12:53:15

And then sometime during the day the nurse said to me 00:12:56:12

they were bringing Joanne to the room, to me 00:12:59:19

because she didn't have to be above in neonatal. That she was fine, she was grand 00:13:02:03

And I remember picking Joanne up 00:13:06:01

and I let her in the middle of the bed and I just stood back and I looked over 00:13:07:18

And I looked at Joanne and all I thought was 00:13:11:20

what will you ever do? 00:13:15:22

Not in a bad way 00:13:18:04

But I just couldn't see, like 00:13:20:11

she was missing limbs, I had never seen someone missing... 00:13:22:09

a hand, one hand or one leg 00:13:25:07

never mind missing all four limbs 00:13:27:13

And the first thing that came into my head, like, was 00:13:30:04

What will you ever do? 00:13:33:02

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands. 00:13:39:09

If you're happy and you know it and you really wanna show it 00:13:43:06

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands. Boom, boom. 00:13:46:19

JOANNE SINGING 00:13:53:08

- Stamp your feet! 00:13:56:10

Help me, go get a drink 00:14:11:02

- I will Help you to drink. When you walk 00:14:15:20

As soon as you go down to Daddy now, I'll get you a drink of water 00:14:17:14

I sit down then and you must walk down to me to get it. Is that fair now? 00:14:20:03

Yep. I walk down to Daddy like this 00:14:23:11

Dad 00:14:26:20

You sit down! Sit down! 00:14:27:23

Mum, you give me the cup 00:14:31:08

Go over and get the cup 00:14:33:14

I can't! I can't reach it, I'll fall down! 00:14:35:09

Go on, I'll push it in a small bit 00:14:38:15

Somebody had said to us 00:14:41:19

that we'd probably be able to fit Joanne with a prosthetic hand 00:14:44:00

Now what was a prosthetic hand? We hadn't a clue 00:14:46:23

We didn't know anything about prosthesis or about that 00:14:49:16

But we were picking up bits and pieces along the line 00:14:53:15

We heard the words anyway 00:14:56:12

And I remember saying to the doctor that someone had said to us 00:15:00:04

that Joanne might be able to be fitted with a prosthetic hand 00:15:03:17

on her left hand side because 00:15:07:18

of the piece that she had 00:15:09:23

and I remember him saying to us, who told you that? 00:15:12:17

And we said, somebody told us, a doctor told us and he goes 00:15:16:03

Well I'm the doctor, you listen to me 00:15:19:23

- Didn't he ask us if we thought we were medical? 00:15:21:14

Yeah that's right. And he was the doctor and we'd listen to him 00:15:25:01

And I thought like, what's going on here? 00:15:29:18

You're supposed to be helping us... Not downing us like 00:15:32:05

And then I remember he told me 00:15:36:08

to put Joanne up on the table and he'd have a look at her 00:15:38:07

And I said fine. I put her up and I mean, was fumbling obviously, 00:15:41:17

because I wasn't used to undressing Joanne 00:15:45:19

It was difficult to hold her 00:15:48:19

And I took Joanne's clothes off after a long struggle 00:15:51:05

And he looked at her, I can still see him like, he just stood over he 00:15:56:21

and he looked at her 00:16:01:23

And he described her as a right doll 00:16:04:06

That's how he described Joanne to me, and I'm thinking, 00:16:07:18

what is this man talking about? 00:16:11:17

And then he told me that, 00:16:14:13

do you know when you get a doll for Christmas, and I goes right... 00:16:16:18

and do you know, he told me, when one hand falls off, the other hand falls off, 00:16:20:04

then the legs fall off. What do you do with the doll? 00:16:24:13

And I said, I dont know, what do you do with the doll? 00:16:27:23

Well you put it into a cupboard, whatever you wanted to do with it 00:16:30:22

Put it away 00:16:34:21

He was telling us, that when we actually got tired of Joanne 00:16:35:08

that we could actually put Joanne into a home 00:16:38:02

He was telling us without telling us, do you know what I mean? 00:16:41:19

The tears. I'll never forget it the longest I live 00:16:44:07

I cried, cried and cried 00:16:47:05

And then I had to dress Joanne 00:16:50:06

I had to dress Joanne on top of it again 00:16:53:20

And I remember the tears streaming down my eyes 00:16:56:21

And I can still see him... 00:16:59:17

and he walked over to the corner of the room, do you remember 00:17:02:13

We were here, he walked over to the corner of the room 00:17:05:03

He never touched Joanne 00:17:08:13

and he walked over to the corner of the room and he washed his hands 00:17:10:16

He came back and he didn't even offer us a tissue 00:17:14:17

Do you remember

- I Do, Yeah 00:17:17:15

We had no tissue, we had nothing 00:17:18:17

and the tears streaming down my eyes 00:17:20:19

and he'd just told me when I get tired of Joanne, 00:17:22:10

then I knew what I could do with her 00:17:24:22

That man, I said, is not going to... 00:17:27:06

It was he actually who put the drive in us 00:17:29:13

He was cruel and horrible and what have you, 00:17:33:05

But we thought, we'll prove him wrong 00:17:35:23

We'll get Joanne up and going... and we'll prove that man wrong. 00:17:38:04

MUSIC PLAYS 00:17:43:14

Very good. 00:17:53:19

There is no other baby like her in Ireland nor has there ever been 00:18:13:09

Across the world children like her are exceptionally rare 00:18:17:07

Will you give a very warm welcome please to Joe and Anna O'Riordan and baby Joanne 00:18:20:13

APPLAUSE 00:18:24:11

What's ahead of you clearly... I mean, you'e not 00:18:31:20

well resourced, you dont have a lot of money 00:18:35:07

No. 00:18:37:15

- And you've decided to try and raise funds 00:18:39:11

You've got an ambitious target 00:18:42:01

That appearance, on the Kenny Live Show 00:18:43:20

provoked a public reaction never seen before 00:18:46:11

A worldwide campaign was launched 00:18:51:02

and a staggering 800,000 pounds was donated 00:18:53:18

to the Joanne O'Riordan fund 00:18:58:07

TRIUMPHANT MUSIC PLAYS 00:19:01:23

The generosity and kindness of strangers, 00:19:12:11

allowed Joanne's family to provide her with a better standard of living 00:19:15:17

and a new world of possibilities. 00:19:20:09

People from every walk of life 00:19:30:23

did what they could to support this special little girl 00:19:33:05

Super duper! 00:19:42:04

As she grew, friendships blossomed 00:19:45:01

and her school environment allowed her to excel beyond expectation 00:19:48:08

It was now time for Joanne to find her own distinctive voice. 00:19:57:16

So Enda Kenny will be here in a few minutes 00:20:10:21

He needs to shake hands with a few of the locals 00:20:12:17

and they will get the inside scoop out of Enda Kenny 00:20:14:17

- Right, he's coming out

- We've just heard that Enda Kelly will be arriving in 2 minutes 00:20:19:02

Count 'em... 2... 1.59... 1.58... and so on 00:20:22:20

Joanne featured extensively in the media last December 00:20:27:15

when the government was forced to reverse the cut 00:20:30:22

to the disability allowance in the budget 00:20:33:14

after footage was released of Taoiseach Enda Kelly 00:20:36:00

promising her, that the allowance wouldn't be touched 00:20:38:23

Before the Christmas, in our budget presentation 00:20:42:07

we're not taking any money off people with disability. 00:20:45:17

we want that protected. 00:20:49:03

Is that ok Joanne? 00:20:50:12

Regular listeners to C103 are well aware of Joanne O'Riordan 00:20:53:13

She's become not just a local hero to us, but a national hero to many 00:20:57:14

Would you welcome please, Joanne O'Riordan 00:21:03:05

APPLAUSE 00:21:06:04

As Joanne evoked change in government policy 00:21:08:19

She now became a beacon of light 00:21:12:09

For all those living in Ireland 00:21:14:22

You hear that cheer in the crowd, it was because, you took them on and you won 00:21:17:03

APPLAUSE 00:21:21:14

It was at this point, Joanne received an invitation 00:21:26:13

to address the United Nations 00:21:30:09

providing her a platform to issue the ultimate challenge 00:21:33:09

Do you want to wear your glasses? 00:22:19:10

Dad, do you wanna hear a really bad joke? 00:22:53:11

A man who took RyanAir to court after losing his luggage, 00:22:56:18

has lost his case. 00:23:00:13

Are you seriously wearing socks and sandals? 00:23:12:00

Oh my god! 00:23:17:01

Oh god. 00:23:21:01

They all wear socks and sandals 00:23:24:04

ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH BUZZING 00:23:28:10

NEWS PROGRAMME THEME 00:23:57:06

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Film: No Limbs No Limits

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