By Scott Brinton
This year, the accolade goes to a young person -- a very special young person.
Emily Keenan has lived in Merrick all of her 17 years. She is just getting started in contributing to the greater good, but already she has done so much, and set such an admirable example. Keenan was born with one arm, but don¹t for a second think that has hindered her in any way. She grew up playing soccer in the Merrick-North Merrick Police Athletic League. She never asked for, nor received, special treatment.
When Keenan entered Calhoun High School, she joined the cross-country team. After a season, though, she was sidelined by injury -- not to a leg, as you might expect, but to her left hand. Carrying too many heavy books, she had strained the ligaments in her hand. Scar tissue had built up, and so the hand had to be put in a cast -- for more than a year and a half. She could no longer run cross-country, because officials feared that she might accidentally injure another runner with her cast.
During that time, Keenan had use of only four fingers. She took notes in class by squeezing her pen between her index finger and pinkie. School rules allowed her to have a classmate take notes for her, but Keenan wasn¹t interested. She insisted on doing it herself. ³It wasn¹t very neat, but it got the job done,² she said with a laugh.
Last summer, Keenan endured risky surgery to her hand to repair the damage. If the operation failed, she could have lost the use of the hand. Fortunately, all went well. As soon as she could, Keenan joined the cross-country team once again. Her times improved throughout the fall season, and on Oct. 7 she captured the USA Track & Field national title in the arm amputee category in a meet at Sunken Meadow State Park.
Keenan¹s victory represented more than a time run on one of the region¹s toughest cross-country courses. It was a triumph of the human spirit. As a child she had endured the teasing of classmates because she was different. In the face of injury, others might have been tempted to simply give up and give in, and no one could have blamed Keenan if she had. But she didn¹t. She never gave in. She beat back what many would consider a disability. She overcame adversity, and in doing so, she taught those who know her a remarkable lesson about life: We must never allow what others would consider a limitation to define us.
And Keenan does more than walk the walk. As a member of Calhoun¹s Students Against Destructive Decisions club, she teaches ninth-graders about the importance of respecting one another¹s differences. ³I choose to respect everyone no matter what they look like or who they are,² Keenan said. ³It¹s not something you can really change.² She spreads the same message while teaching Sunday school to second-graders at St. David¹s Lutheran Church in Massapequa Park.
Mike Harrington, an assistant principal at Calhoun, said of Keenan, ³Honestly, even with the disability, she doesn¹t let anything get in the way. She really has achieved a lot. From an administrative point of view, we¹re really proud to have her represent our school. She symbolizes everything we¹d want in our students.²
Keenan hopes to become a social-studies teacher. In so many ways, however, she already is a teacher. Tom Keenan, her father, said of his daughter, ³She¹s my girl. There¹s nothing that she can¹t do. She¹s a good influence on other people.²
We agree, and that is why we are proud to name Emily Keenan the Herald¹s Person of the Year for 2007.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
