Barbie Thomas lost both
her arms at the age of 2. She was playing outside her Texas apartment complex
and climbed onto a transformer, grabbling on to the wires. The electric current
traveled through her little body, from her hands out her feet, burning her arms
to the bone.
"They were like charcoal," she writes
in her biography on her website, Fitness Unarmed "They were completely dead and had
to be amputated at the shoulders."
No one expected Thomas to live. But today, at
37, she has accomplished what was once regarded as the impossible: Thomas is a
competitive body builder and model.
"I thank God I am alive," said Thomas,
who now lives in Phoenix with her two sons, aged 13 and 17. She uses her shoulders
as arms, which her children call her "nubs."
Thomas said her positive attitude is rooted in
her upbringing.
"I was not allowed to be negative and say I
can't do something," she told ABCNews.com, holding the phone between her
ear and her right-hand shoulder, which is more substantial than her left side.
"I was always taught to focus on what I can
do, not what I can't do," she said. "It probably has a lot to do with
my personality -- I can't imagine being a negative Nancy all the time."
Fitness competitors, in addition to having
beautifully sculpted bodies, must do a two-minute performance routine
incorporating dance, cheerleading or gymnastic flexibility.
"They are in the same realm as body
builders, but instead of seeing the deep-cut muscles, they want to see a nice
feminine shape," Thomas said. Experts say something in between a body
builder and a bikini girl.
Her dance routines include splits and high kicks
and even the ninja kip-up. Thomas placed sixth in June at Jr. Nationals and
fifth in August at the North American Championships.
The National
Physique Committee (NPC), which is the amateur division of the
International Federation of Body Builders, was so impressed with her
performance in their fitness division last year, they gave Thomas their
first-ever Inspiration Award.
"She chose the most difficult division of
all," said Miles Nuessle, Arizona chairman of the NPC.
"We were thinking, 'How can she do that
routine?' but she blew our minds," he said. "She was absolutely
beautiful. She was on the floor jumping up and doing splits. I don't know what
half the moves were called. She was rolling all over the place and shaking it
-- sexy, athletic, fun and emotional. The crowd went nuts.
"You can't use the word handicapped with
her or she may punch you in the face," he said. "Barbie is not
handicapped."
After the childhood accident, doctors said
Thomas might live like a vegetable for the rest of her life. But her mother
prayed that if that were the case, "God would just take me," Thomas
writes. "She also made a promise to God that day -- if he let me live, she
would make sure that I became 'somebody.'"
"The doctors were boggled by my
recovery," she said. "They decided I must have survived because of
the rubber soles on my tennis shoes. True, they may have played their part, but
I believe I survived because God saw the bigger picture and had plans for
me."
Thomas went through extensive physical and
occupational therapy. Adapting to a world without arms was a challenge and even
years later, when she was independent, she'd have to improvise to do ordinary
tasks.
"Every now and then, we would have to put
our thinking caps on or call a therapist," she said. "I learned to be
creative and think out of the box."
She makes full use of her feet in both dance
competitions and at home, using them to open doors, plug in her music and grab
her bags. She uses her mouth to fasten the Velcro snaps on her dance shoes.
"Reaching for high stuff in the grocery
store is hard, especially if it's breakable," said Thomas, who uses her
shoulder. "If it's a cardboard box, I can usually reach -- I am tall
enough -- and knock it into the grocery cart. Sometimes I have to go get help.
When I had long hair, I couldn't put it up in a ponytail."
Thomas raised her first son with the help of a
husband, though she is now divorced.
"I did have to pick my therapist's brain to
help with a few things with the newborn baby," she said. "But the
second one was a piece of cake. I had to kind of prop them up on a pillow and
lay next to them as a holder when I nursed them. I could hold them the right
way in my lap by using my leg when they were a little older."
Thomas said fitness had been part of her life
"forever." Growing up, she played soccer, danced and did aerobic
running. When her first child was born she got into aerobic lifting with
weights and later became an instructor.
"I'd go to the gym doing aerobic lifting
with weights after the oldest son was born," she said. "I read about
[fitness competition] in athletes' magazines and thought it was cool. Finally,
I was encouraged by a friend and decided to go for it."
She began competing in 2003, and she faced some
odd stares.
"In the first few competitions I felt that
when they were calling me to go up, in their hands and their manners, they
looked at me like, 'What the heck is she doing here?'" she said. "I
put their doubts to rest when they saw my fitness routine.
"There are certain routines that you use
your hands for that I can do -- I can kip-up," she said. "When you
are laying on the ground it looks like you are falling backward and then you
come up. Most people use their hands to push themselves up."
Thomas admits she is anxious about doing a back
flip, which requires arms to get height and momentum, even though she is
capable.
"I have to compensate and use my upper body
more and my leg a lot," she said. "My core is pretty strong.
"The reason I keep going is to prove to
myself that I will get on stage and do my damn flip," Thomas said. "I
know I can and I will."
Nuessle, who runs NPC Miles
Productions, said he once made a comment to Thomas that she
said gave her the "fuel" to keep competing.
"At one of the shows I said without pulling
any punches, 'It's hard to win when you don't have upper extremities.' The
judges look at symmetry," he said. "She got a fire in the belly and
said, 'Don't tell me I can't win. I'll use that to motivate me.' … She did make
me eat my words."
The sport is grueling, demanding weight training
five days a week, and cardio work every day. Athletes like Thomas must pay
attention to the nutrition in their diet and stay focused.
But Thomas thrives on the challenge, especially
because it sends a strong message to others.
"I realize it inspires many people, and not
just those with physical challenges," she said. "Follow your dreams
and keep pushing and where there is a will, there is a way. We all have our own
stuff to deal with and our own limitations and handicaps. Mine are just more
visible. There's always someone else out there who has it worse."
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