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Mum's anger at missing limb TV row
LILY Hutchinson is a bright and bubbly little girl.
The only thing that sets the lively three-year-old apart from her friends at nursery is that her right hand is missing.
But it's not a big issue with her family and friends, unlike the fuss made over children's TV presenter Cerrie Burnell, whose right arm ends below her elbow.
Some parents contacted the BBC to claim Ms Burnell's appearance was "scaring" their children.
But the comments have angered Lily's parents, Paul and Julie Hutchinson, of Duchess Crescent East, Jarrow.
Mrs Hutchinson, 42, said: "I was gutted when I heard what some people had said about Cerrie Burnell, because we have always brought up Lily to think she is a special little girl, with a special hand.
"Thank goodness Lily is not old enough to understand what people were saying about the presenter, but it really made me annoyed."
Lily, who attends Valley View Nursery in Jarrow, is believed to have lost her right hand because of a vascular disruption while in her mother's womb.
Mrs Hutchinson added: "Paul and I were absolutely devastated when we saw a scan of Lily when I was 20 weeks' pregnant and were told by the doctors that they could not find her right hand.
"But she was our daughter and we couldn't wait for her to be born."
Lily's parents attend regular meetings of national organisation, Reach, which provides support and networking opportunities for the parents of children with upper limb deficiencies.
Mrs Hutchinson said: "Lily has had no issues with the other children at nursery school.
"She knows she has a 'special hand,' and we encourage staff and the other children to let her do all she can by herself.
"She is a very confident little girl, who will roll her sleeve up and say to people, 'I was born this way, it's my special hand'.
"So I was saddened when I heard what people had been saying about the TV presenter."
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Weather for South Shields
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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