US Paralympian Reunion

“An athlete at this year’s Winter Paralympics was inspired to compete when both her Russian birth mother and American adoptive mother supported her in the stands.

Tatyana McFadden, 24, said that seeing the two women helped her to compete in the 12km sitting ski.

‘I got to see them before I raced so I think it gave me that extra energy, an extra boost,’ Miss McFadden, 24, said of finishing in fifth place.

‘I just raced for my family today. When I was feeling tired, in pain and frustrated I just had to think about my family in the stands.’

Miss McFadden left a St. Petersburg orphanage for Maryland 20 years ago and was not expected to live long.

She spent the first six years of her life walking on her hands because of spina bifida.

The condition means that the spine and spinal chord do not develop properly, causing a gap in the spine to develop.

Even after several operations in the U.S.A, her adoptive family feared the worst.

Miss McFadden survived against the odds – which eventually led to Sunday’s emotional reunion with the mother forced to abandon her.

‘I am very proud, it’s amazing,’ said Russian birth mother Nina Polevikova, beaming with pride to her daughter as her Russian family translated. ‘It’s like a miracle,’ she said.

Miss McFadden has 10 medals from the last three Summer Paralympic Games in wheelchair racing.

Last year, she won the first ‘grand slam’ in wheelchair marathon racing – which refers to winning titles at all four major 26.2-mile races including Boston, Chicago, London and New York.

Deborah McFadden adopted Tatyana at age six and originally expected the winnings from the Boston, Chicago, London and New York marathons to be spent on a new car.

Instead the money was used to bring Tatyana’s birth family and the St. Petersburg orphanage director to Sochi.

‘Tatyana’s my daughter, but it’s taken a lot of people to get her where she is today,’ said Deborah McFadden.

She first met her future daughter in Russia while working as a commissioner of disabilities for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.””

Read the rest of the story here:Reunited with the mother who gave her up: US Paralympian abandoned at a St Petersburg orphanage aged four meets her Russian birth mom at Sochi[Daily Mail 3/10/14 By Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter]

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