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- I knew something was wrong.
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And even asked, is there something wrong with my baby?
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She needed plastic surgeons and she needed neurosurgeons,
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and there was nowhere in West Virginia
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that offered all of that.
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And so we were told she would be flown out
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to the University of Virginia.
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I guess I can't even really explain it.
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It just felt right, just felt like I was at the right place.
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- I got to know Savannah at an extremely young age.
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She was born with a deformity that
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was potentially threatening to her life, as well
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as her future development.
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- Each team came and talked to us, and we knew--
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we were realistic.
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We knew what we were up against.
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We knew if she didn't have the surgery,
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she wasn't going to survive.
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But it was risky.
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But we were ready.
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- You have to tell the truth and say it's a serious situation.
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But not making the truth seem so frightening that they
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are discouraged.
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There is hope and obviously, there was hope.
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The years have proven that to be true.
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- I just remember-- oh, I mean, good memories like nurses.
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They had all these patients, but when
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they saw that one patient, when they saw me,
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it was like I was their only priority.
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They treated me as though I didn't
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look as bad as I know I did.
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They really cared and it's everybody at UVA.
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It's not just the nurses, just the doctors.
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Not just the team.
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It's everybody.
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- I was reading this chart and thinking, I'm
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not sure they have the right expectations.
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And it wasn't clear to me that walking was a realistic goal.
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- You take a doctor that is unfamiliar with Savannah,
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and he reads her medical records before he comes in
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and he will actually not know that that's her.
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And he'll say, you're Savannah?
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Because she projects herself, and it's just amazing.
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- I realized just how incredibly motivated she was.
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But more importantly, she came from a nurturing environment
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and had parents that were totally supportive
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and extremely intelligent, and understood
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what it was going to take for her to get better.
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- She surprised us with crutch walking, which we did not
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know would we ever see that.
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And so she walked her entire graduation with her crutches.
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It was my ugly cry moment, I call it.
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- I wasn't sure about being in the marching band.
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I wanted to, but I didn't know about the pushing and all
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that with my chair.
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And so Daddy called the director,
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and she was like, oh, yeah, yeah.
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I'm in the concert band, too.
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So I love every part of it.
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I mean, music is my passion.
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- The whole Tucker family is just a remarkable story.
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It's sometimes hard to convey how serious these deformities
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are.
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I mean, there was a point where Savannah almost died.
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It's remarkable how they've been able to raise her and allow
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her to be the person that she has become.
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- I'm a God fearing woman and you take what you're given
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and you realize that you can either be a miserable soul
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or you can be someone who really blesses people.
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