Four Fingers and Thirteen Toes

Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds

feb. 2009 · Author House

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An essential read that will make you laugh and cry, be angry and proud with every turn of the page. Rosaleen (Rosie) overcame horrendous injuries to her physical being as a result of her mother being prescribed Thalidomide during pregnancy. The drug left Rosie with four fingers, two sprouting from each shoulder and thirteen toes on legs which came to an abrupt end above the knee. This fascinating and beautifully written true story, charts Rosie‘s birth into an Irish immigrant family, and leads the reader through every facet of her inspirational life. It includes her early years filled with long periods of hospitalisation and treatment; her education, employment and relationships; and onto true fulfilment of a lifetime’s desire to be independent. Illustrated throughout, this remarkable story of a strong willed daughter, wife, mother and respected businesswoman, also details the factual and historical journey of Thalidomide from Nazi Germany to now. This so-called “wonder drug” of the 1960s, thought to be banished after the tragedy unfolded, is still being used in the treatment of various conditions and illnesses. Rosie examines why pharmaceutical companies are eager for it to be re-licensed and includes her honest perspective of the drug. ******************** “This deeply moving book is about triumph over devastatingly severe disability. I hold Rosie in high admiration and hope her inspiring story will be very widely read.” The Rt. Hon. Lord Morris of Manchester AO QSO (first Cabinet Minister for Disabled People) ”Before you know it you are drawn into a story that makes you proud to be a disabled person.” Disability Now magazine