Hello my name is Tina Puma. I am the mother of a little girl named Tessa Puma. I would like to tell you the story of Tessa in hopes you would be interested in her story. She is such an inspiration and we believe her story would inspire others around the world. Please feel free to reach out to myself or her father Matt Puma. I will put the link to her Facebook page and also her Instagram account. You really wont believe all this little girl has overcome.
Tessa is a little girl from Ohio who got very sick in March of 2017 she was just 6 yrs old. Strep got into her blood stream, causing an infection and flesh-eating bacteria called necrotising fasciitis. The infection spread through her tiny body so rapidly, that they gave her a 20% chance of survival. They basically prepared her father and I for her death. They said she probably will not make it through the night. We took her to the hospital thinking she just had the flu, so it was much to our surprise that our little girl was minutes away from dying. In order to save her life, they had to amputate her left leg above the knee. See, Tessa is a very success competitive dancer. She loves to be on stage and was the youngest child to make the company dance team at her studio just a few months before she got sick. It was heartbreaking to us to hear what was going to have to happen to our baby, but we said do anything you have to, to save our babygirl. They had to cut all the infection out of her body so she has multiple skin grafts that cover the whole left side of her, almost 40% of her body is covered in scars and the skin grafts. This little girl beat the odds of survival and came out stronger than ever.
Just weeks after receiving her first prosthetic leg she was back to dance learning to dance with her new normal. She went to dance prior to getting her prosthetic leg with a walker and watched and studied all the other kids, It was so hard for her to not be out there doing what she loves but she was just happy to be there and be alive. She said mom I am going to dance again! I am going to tumble again too! I know I can do this. I said its going to be hard but I am not ever going to tell you that you cant do it, so please don’t ever give up. Those words stuck with her because she never gave up on her hopes and dreams. They placed her in one of the company competition dance groups and she even formed a trio with two of her best friends (both are boys). They went to competitions and won 1st place platinum awards over any other dance, in their category! They even went to a national dance competition and took home the giant 1st place over all trophy. She is a NATIONAL dance champion! We didnt stop there tho, we built her, her very own in home dance room complete with full length mirrors on the wall. She practices every single day! She gets better and better and this year she will be competing in FIVE dances at multiple dance competitions! She is beyond excited to share her story with all of you!
She is determined to show the world that, this hiccup in life will not bring her down, she will rise up to any challenge and do it with her signature smile on her face, and a giant bow in her hair! She has mastered her back handsprings again with a prosthetic leg and does it with such grace (see video below). Please look for yourself and see what an amazing girl this child is, and we are so thankful to be her parents. Thank you so much for your time.
She wants to show the world what positivity and determination can do! #tessastrong #teamtessa #noexcuses #dreamsdontworkunlessyoudo
All you have to do is google the name TESSA PUMA and you can see the multiple news stories about her story and her journey.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1675286042765269/
https://www.instagram.com/tessa_csds/
[embed]https://sayitforward.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-cf117b3a3fa077f5e8b6efda923514fe/2018/11/IMG_7981.MOV[/embed]