Purpose Makes Child a Winner

All Mandi’s life, she has struggled to be just an ordinary kid.

Born with spina bifida, a congenital defect, 8-year-old Mandi Rutherford is paralyzed from the waist down, has some motor skill impairment and a slight learning disability.

But she and her family have fought to be included in the school activities enjoyed by most children. And, in most cases, they have won.

Mandi is in the first grade at a mainstream elementary school in Poway, where she lives with her parents, Debbie and Roy Rutherford. She swims, roller skates, plays tennis and dons an orange belt when taking karate class.

“Mandi’s determination,” said Sandra Gordon, a spokeswoman for the National Easter Seals Society, “is phenomenal.”

On Friday, the Easter Seals Society named Mandi their child representative for 1991-92 during opening ceremonies of the society’s national convention at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel.

For the next year, Mandi will do what few children do--have an Oval Office meeting with President Bush, a Hollywood television studio appearance during the national Easter Seals Telethon and 40 other appearances across the country. She will meet with corporate sponsors and children’s groups to raise awareness of Easter Seals programs.

The group, founded in 1919, organizes rehabilitation programs, research and legislation for the disabled of all ages.

“One of the reasons Mandi was chosen is she is very outgoing,” Debbie Rutherford said. “She is comfortable around people--able to touch them. . . . Not just physically, I mean make a good connection.”

Mandi has yet to appear fazed by the attention, Rutherford said. “She’s been real low-key about all this.”

Her goals for beyond the next year are high. Mandi wants to be a nurse, and she’s told her mother that maybe one day she will walk without a brace or crutches.

Even after being told of the unlikelihood of overcoming her disability, Mandi’s mother said her daughter replied: “I’m going to walk alone.”