Woman's parents blamed their ‘sin’ for birth defect - then she became athlete
A woman who was born with a birth defect which her parents believed was due to their "sin" has turned everything around to become an "All-American" athlete.
Katelyn Pavey was born with only one fully developed arm. When dad Eric discovered this, he thought it was punishment for his sins - as the pregnancy emerged from an affair between Pavey’s parents, who then began a new life together. "My grandma, actually, when I was born, told my dad that God doesn't make mistakes," Pavey said.
But Katelyn grew up as a promising sportswoman, before becoming an All-American athlete in softball - the honour given to amateur athletes considered to be one of the best in their sport. And now a film is being made about her inspirational life-story - called “I Can”, the film is produced by Kappa Studios and features actress Danner Brown.
Pavey describes the movie as a “redemption story”. She said: "I was conceived out of wedlock due to an affair and my parents carried the sin and guilt for a long time, thinking that I was born with one arm because of their past. So, the movie kind of hits on that in the beginning, and then it goes through my softball days and just shows how, you know, that sin was still carried on through my parents.
Pavey became one of the best amateur softball players in the country (katelyn_pavey12/Instagram)
Pavey suffered a dreaded ACL injury which halted her progress for a while (katelyn_pavey12/Instagram)“But, you know, I faced difficulties in the game. I faced difficulties, you know, with an injury. And then just how my positive attitude got over that and overcame everything that my parents were feeling and so it's kind of just like a redemption story and a story of overcoming adversity," Pavey said.
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Pavey became a successful softball player despite only having one fully developed arm, and says she continued to play to prove the “naysayers” and doubters wrong. “The only disability in life is a bad attitude and if you keep at it, and you have a great attitude that you can accomplish anything," she said. After making it to collegiate level, Pavey played at Kentucky Christian University - and said one of the greatest challenges was “hearing parents or coaches doubting her”.
But disaster struck when she tore her ACL in college - tearing the knee ligament is one of the most dreaded injuries in sport. “That was like my breaking point,” she said. “I thought my entire career was over, you know? ‘Why me? Why did this happen to me?’ I mean, I just worked so hard growing up to get to where I was, and now it's all getting taken away.”
The film about Pavey's life came out on September 22 (Kappa Studios)She said the injury focussed her. “I learned that, you know, I once had a story, I had a reason and I needed to keep going. That was kind of like a breakthrough moment for me to keep playing the sport and just to keep inspiring people,” Pavey said.
But Pavey has now hung up her boots, as she has graduated from college and is soon to be married. "On September 15, I'm getting married, which is crazy. Our director for the movie is actually marrying us, so that's pretty cool. The movie comes out on Septe 22. So everything's going to happen back to back."
“I Can” was released in select theatres in the USA on Friday September 22 - and Pavey confirmed that 100% of the proceeds from the film will go to “helping kids in need”.
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