The Amputee Coalition has announced that Theresa Ott of Modesto, California, is the recipient of the 2012 Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship.
Based on her conviction that limb loss should not be a barrier to academic or professional success, Skoski established the scholarship in 2009 through a $25,000 scholarship fund.
“On behalf of the Amputee Coalition, we are very pleased to announce Theresa as the recipient of this prestigious award,” Amputee Coalition President and CEO, Kendra Calhounsaid. “Not only has she excelled academically, but Theresa is a young woman with a strong commitment to her goal of helping others through a career in nursing. She has also shown real leadership in the limb-loss community by publishing an interactive newsletter for young amputees”
Ott, who has a bilateral transtibial amputation, credits her family lifestyle as the influence that shaped her into a hardworking and caring person, and the life lessons she learned as an amputee as the factor that taught her determination and confidence. Ott attended the Amputee Coalition Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp at the age of 12 because of a desire to meet other children with amputations and returned to camp as a leader in training. As a musician, she is a member of the Van Ott family Swiss band where she plays alto and soprano saxophone.
In the fall, Ott will be attending either the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, or Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas, where she plans to study nursing.
