Hülya Marquardt – Germany.

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Hülya Marquardt from Stuttgart, Germany is a mother, wife, fashion boutique owner, course manager for a local college and model with a disability. Hülya was born with a rare condition leaving her with deformed hands and legs. Following 21 operations during the first 6 years of her life, the doctors were able to fix Hülya’s legs. However, when she was 18 years old, the screws the doctors had put in to straighten her legs caused blood poisoning, which resulted in sepsis. To save her life, doctors had to amputate both legs high above the knees, leaving her with stumps barely long enough to fit prosthetic legs onto. Hülya gets around in a wheelchair or on a skateboard, but most of the time she simply crawls. She is a well-known person within the German disability community, fighting for disability rights, including equality and accessibility. On her Instagram page, she shows how she handles being a mother of a two-year-old, a business woman and a model, despite having deformed and amputated limbs.

Instagram: huelya_dennis