This story validated by Snopes is an encouragement to anyone who has faced overwhelming difficulty. It is the true story of Molly, a horse with a prosthetic leg.
Molly is a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was considered a welfare case. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind.
He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic. Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins here.
Molly happened to be a one in a million patient. She was tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. Molly’s story turns into a parable of life. The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb, and a human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports.
And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. “It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch a three-legged horse,” she laughs. Most important of all, Molly has a new job now. Kay, the rescue owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. She took her anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she inspired people. “It is obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life,” Moore said, “She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.”
May Molly’s example be an encouragement to all of us. There always is a bigger plan behind all the downturns in life, a plan that gives us a future and a hope.
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