Writing a new path, after a life-changing accident

Losing part of her dominant hand has not caused young Selah Toney to slow down – if anything, she’s taken it as a challenge to do more, even recently winning a national handwriting award.

Selah, a second grader at Agape Christi Academy in Eden Prairie who lives in New Hope, lost four fingers on her left hand last summer in a kitchen accident at home.

Her father, Brett Toney, rushed Selah in their car to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Although she was in shock from the trauma, Selah began singing a devotional song she learned in school, called “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.”

“With the assurance of her singing and the confidence of those lyrics, I knew we would be OK,” said Toney, who is the lead pastor at Westview Church in Crystal.

Once in hospital triage, Toney explained to nurses that Selah was left-handed, and this was her dominant writing hand.

“But then she piped up, ‘Oh, I can write with my right hand, too!’” he said. Selah explained that she and Evangeline, her right-handed twin sister, would practice writing with their alternate hands for fun.

The medical team was able to reattach three of Selah’s fingers during a 14-hour surgery. Unfortunately, after a week in the intensive care unit and undergoing leech therapy to improve circulation, the reattachment failed. Selah then underwent another surgery to remove the fingers.

Selah faced a tough recovery. As her hand healed, she began physical therapy to ensure maximum use of it.

“It was a very hard, emotional experience as we changed bandages at home and came to terms with how Selah’s story was being written,” Toney said.

Perseverance brought reward

In September, Selah returned to Agape Christi Academy, a 135-student, Pre-K to grade 12 classical Christian school based at Liberty Baptist Church in Eden Prairie. Selah’s parents said her teacher, friends, and school community were extremely supportive as she recovered.

About six weeks after the accident, Selah’s hand had healed enough for her to start using it while bandaged, but not for fine motor skills. Instead, Selah began focusing on what her right hand could do. She quickly learned to tie her shoes, plus work buttons and zippers.

“She never complained about having to use her right hand but took this new obstacle in stride,” Toney said. “She gratefully received assistance from her sister and classmates as she built strength and dexterity.”

Selah began working extremely hard on her right-hand penmanship every day in her composition class at school. Chrissy Evans, one of her second grade teachers, said, “She was very positive about it. She just kept working at it and didn’t allow discouragement to overtake her.”

In January, Selah and her classmates entered the 33rd annual Zane-Blaser National Handwriting Contest, something her school does every year.

In April, Selah learned she was one of nine national winners chosen from thousands of entries. Selah’s entry was honored with the Nicholas Maxim Award for students with disabilities, in the manuscript (print writing) category.

Judging was based on Zaner-Bloser’s four keys to legibility: the shape, size, spacing, and slant of the letters.

Selah said her favorite letter to write is “T,” and her favorite word to write is Tumnus, the name of her Sheepadoodle. For the competition, however, contestants wrote the sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” because it includes the entire alphabet.

Selah said it made her feel “happy and excited” to win. She will receive an engraved trophy and a $500 check, and her school will receive a $1,000 Zaner-Bloser product voucher. They will also receive certificates of achievement personalized by master penman Michael Sull.

Showing ‘grit and tenacity’

Selah’s left hand has now healed completely, and she continues to tackle life with “grit and tenacity,” her father said.

“Selah’s focus on her family and her faith have allowed her to take this trial, receive it well, and learn from it,” Evans said. “When you have a hardship, you have to work hard to compensate, and it’s been neat to see that overflow into everything else she does.”

Selah was already an athletic child, but “If anything, she’s gotten stronger from this,” Evans said. Selah uses a C-hook prosthetic to go on the monkey bars, which she said is one of her favorite things to do, along with riding her bike and trail running with her family.

She also goes rock climbing once a week with her family, a sport she picked up shortly before her accident. To grip, she uses the little bit of each finger remaining above her left hand’s knuckles.

Selah has also spent time watching videos made by other climbers with limb differences, adapting their ideas to her strengths and abilities.

“She had to find a new way to do it – her own way,” said her mother, Kelina Toney.

This summer, Selah will attend a session hosted by the Lucky Fin Project, a national organization that provides support, education, and resources for children with upper limb differences and their families.

“We’re going to go to a family weekend this summer, to meet other people that have different hands, see what tricks they use,” her mom said.

Selah’s family said they hope her story and resilience will encourage other children and families experiencing similar hardship.