U.P. girl excels in sports and life despite physical disability
By Erin Bozek-Jarvis, 16, and Jessica Goodwin, 14.

Kelly Allen is not the typical high school junior. Allen, a student a Kingsford High School, is a multi sport athlete, with two world champion titles to her name.

There is another thing that sets Allen apart. Born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD) Allen has to wear a prosthetic leg, but as her athletic achievements demonstrate Allen has never let that hold her back.

PFFD is a condition that affects the leg and causes bones to either be absent or smaller than normal. In Kelly’s case her left leg is missing its fibula and her femur is extremely small.

Allen’s involvement in sports came early in life.

“ I was really young and I’d go to sporting events, and I just grew up around athletics and sports,” she said.

Watching her three siblings participate it seemed natural that Allen would partake in athletics as well.

“ The way I was raised I was never told that I could never do anything,” she said. “So when I saw them do that I was like, I want to do that, too.”

Her parents were supportive and signed Allen up for a variety of sports. This is how she became involved in one of the sports she is most successful in––karate. Allen is currently pursuing her black belt.

Over the years, Allen has participated in soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and tennis. In recent years Allen has chosen to focus on skiing, rock climbing, and kayaking.

Allen was first introduced to rock climbing at a sporting event at the age of eight. Because rock climbing is a relatively uncommon sport, Allen must travel to either the PIEF at Northern Michigan University, or to facilities down state to train and practice. Allen enjoys these uncommon sports like rock climbing and kayaking because they are the most challenging.

“ Rock climbing is not only body, but it’s also like a mind game,” Allen explains. “ It’s something you have to get over, your fear of heights for one. It’s just such a challenge. I think it’s what people least expect of me, and I like to prove people wrong.”

Allen’s athletic abilities have taken her to international competitions such as the Extremity Games.

“ What they want it to be is like the equivalent of what the X-Games is for people with prosthetics or orthotics,” Allen said.

The Extremity Games host events in skateboarding, rock climbing, kayaking, wakeboarding, mountain biking, motocross, and martial arts. When Allen began to attend the Extremity Games she was the youngest competitor. Now, four years later, she has won a silver medal in rock climbing and is a two-time gold medalist in woman’s kayaking.

The Extremity Games not only provide Allen with an opportunity to compete, but give Allen a chance to be with people and athletes who have limb deficiencies like hers.

“ It was the first place where I went where I actually saw people like me,” Allen recalls. “I was like, ‘That person has a prosthetic!’ It was the first place I went where I wasn’t alone in the world. When people walked into the restaurant you would look at the people with two legs and be like, ‘Oh, you’re one of them.’”

Seeing others overcoming their disabilities has been exciting and rewarding for Allen.

“ When you go to the Extremity Games it’s a huge support system,” she said. “it’s so awesome to be around those people. Every athlete down there is so inspirational and just so amazing.”

In addition to her involvement in the Extremity Games, Allen is part of the Kingsford High School Ski Team. Allen’s performance on the slopes is the reason why she was chosen as one of twelve potential future athletes to attend the Paralympics in Vancouver this year through the Paralympics Experience program.

As a student athlete, Allen attended the opening ceremony, watched many of the events, and meet many of the athletes. The Paralympics provides athletes with physical disabilities the opportunity to compete in various sports including classic Olympic sports like skiing and tennis.

The Paralympics are held every two years alternating between summer and winter events, and take place around the time of the Olympics.

" Every hour I experienced something exciting and new,” she said. “The Opening ceremony was difficult to describe. I know I just can't do it justice. I got to meet and try curling with Team USA, it was really fun. This had to be the best experience of my
life."

Allen hopes this will not be her last time at the Paralympics. Attending the Paralympics as a student athlete, Allen hopes this will give her an idea of what it will be like attending as a competing athlete.

Another honor has come Allen’s way. She was awarded the Mark Andrews Rising Star Award through the Athletes with Disability Hall of Fame in 2009 for her athletic achievements. This was an unexpected honor for Allen, who had just the previous year been dreaming of receiving such a prestigious recognition.

“ That was one of my greatest accomplishments so far, just because last year when I was at the Extremity Games I remember seeing the trailer with that (Hall of Fame) logo on it,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘One day I’m going to be in that.’ That was my life goal. But I didn’t think it would happen so fast.”

Despite her demanding school and athletics schedule Allen finds time to be involved in community activities such as Camp Yes-I-Can. Held at Bay Cliff Health Camp, Camp Yes-I-Can provides children with prosthetics a summer camp environment while offering physical therapy.

For Allen, who has been attending the camp for five years, it is an important place for children with prosthetics to go to learn more about what they can accomplish regardless of their disabilities.

Allen has also found time to try to directly improve the lives of others with prosthetic limbs through a new hobby: inventing. Allen’s invention, the details of which are secret for now, recently won a Gold Medal at the Minnesota Inventors Congress. The product and a business to produce it commercially are currently under devolvement.

With her accomplishments in sports and inventing, Allen has achieved more than the average teen or even adult. Allen has never let PFFD hold her back and finds ways to overcome the challenges PFFD can cause, such as modifying her kayak to balance out the weight correctly. But, Allen does not let PFFD dictate her life.

“ Honestly, I can’t think of how it’s slowed me down,” she said. “I never let anything get me down like that, like sports-wise or just in my life. It doesn’t control my life whatsoever.”