Wedding guests hardly noticed this Massachusetts bride’s prosthetic legs underneath her beautiful gown.
Newlywed Katarina Floridia, 27, of Ashland, walked down the aisle and danced the night away with newfound confidence, thanks to her new legs that no one even noticed were prosthetics.
“I felt that my self-esteem and self-confidence returned after it being damaged my whole life - I never felt so beautiful, confident or strong,” she told T&T Creative Media. “It made me a beautiful bride that I have always hoped and dreamt of being - I was a princess bride that could finally see her toes.”
Unlike other prosthetics, what stood out to the double amputee bride about these ones is that they were able to make them look indistinguishable from the real deal. The color matched her skin perfectly, the toes looked incredibly realistic and they fit comfortably in heels.
“I spent 27 years being scared if society would accept me, but when I finally accepted myself, the day of my wedding and walked down the aisle, I was proud of who I am and was humbled to know that those around me, loved me for who I am,” she said.
Floridia was born with an issue in the amniotic fluid that restricted the growth of both her legs.
She struggled with her appearance her entire life, hating the look of prosthetics so much she kept her legs covered on how days at the beach.
But A Step Ahead Prosthetics solved those problems when they built her a pair of legs that looked like the real thing.
“She was confident and elegant,” Lauren Piccolino of A Step Ahead Prosthetics said. “I saw … a strong, confident women who was so incredibly proud of who she was and no longer had to hide her limb difference.”
Floridia said of her wedding day, “Everyone could see how happy I was and that I finally believed in the person that I really am.”
RELATED STORIES
8-Year-Old Amputee Wows During Dance Routine
Iraq Vet Teaches Yoga to Other Service Members to Heal War Wounds
Paralympian Teaches 10-Year-Old Double Amputee to Ski After She Loses Prosthetics in Wildfire