Meeting challenge upon challenge
Emily Keenan of Sanford H. Calhoun High School's class of 2008 was headed to Mount St. Mary's University. (June 13, 2008) Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa
As if being restricted to using one hand isn't hard enough, Emily Keenan of Merrick faced a year-and-a-half of high school with only half a hand. And she did it with a smile.
A congenital amputee whose right arm ends below the elbow, the Sanford H. Calhoun High School senior strained the ligaments in her left hand in 2005 by carrying too many heavy books. To alleviate pressure, doctors placed the track star's hand in a cast and performed a successful surgery to reduce scar tissue last summer and return the appendage to full health.
But the worst part, Keenan said, wasn't the challenge of completing everyday tasks - such as note-taking - with four fingers. Instead, it was her inability to be on the track team.
"Track officials were worried I might accidentally injure another runner with my cast," said Keenan, who now uses a prosthetic right hand to assist her in carrying heavy objects. "I returned to the team this year. I practiced every day after school and on Saturdays too."
The practice paid off. In the fall, Keenan, 17, captured the USA Track & Field national title in the arm amputee category in a meet at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park. She was also voted 2008's "most changed athlete" by the Nassau County Track Coaches Association.
But her accomplishments aren't limited to the track. Keenan has studied dance - jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop and lyrical - and is a member of her school's Tri-M Music Honor Society and concert choir, which issued her the "Definite Dozen" Award for exemplifying respect.
"I think that award is the accomplishment that means the most to me," said Keenan. "I dropped my lunch period to help out in the chorus room."
Keenan also teaches Sunday school to second-graders at St. David's Lutheran Church in Massapequa Park, where she has been elected as a voting member of the church council.
"Emily has never had the luxury of fading into the crowd," said her guidance counselor. Kathryn Alexander. "Rather, she has melded her physical difference with her spirited drive to accomplish her goals."
Keenan, an Abraham Lincoln buff, plans to attend Mount St. Mary's College in Newburgh this fall to become a history teacher.
