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Amputee, 9, wins award from PGA TOUR Superstore
GILROY — Ella Rodriguez stood in the tee box at the Gavilan Golf Course driving range, hitting golf balls down range as far as she could.
The 9-year-old was laughing with her friend Claudia and offering the occasional instruction to her when warranted.
It’s in these moments that Rodriguez gets to feel just like any other kid her age.
The first thing you’ll notice about Rodriguez upon meeting her is beaming smile — the second, her prosthetic leg. She was born with a condition called fibular hemimelia, leaving her right leg severely clubbed and shorter than her left. Knowing that there was nothing they could do to fix it, parents Susan and Michael Rodriguez made the grueling decision to have Ella’s leg amputated at just 9 months old.
“She learned how to walk with a prosthetic — that’s all she’s ever known,” Michael said. “She’s got to do twice the work that a kid with a foot has to.”
“She excels at anything she decides to do,” Susan adds. “She wants, more than anything, just to be seen as she’s just like everybody else.”
Golf has become an outlet for Ella and just one more thing on the laundry list of activities she’s excelled at. She’s an honor student and standout dancer. She’s found success while playing soccer and field hockey. But playing golf and being in the outdoors is where Ella truly feels at home.
Ella has been involved with First Tee of the Silicon Valley — a junior golf development program that also teaches it’s participants core values while developing their game — since it’s inaugural season in Gilroy almost two years ago. Her positive attitude and outlook has made her an unofficial ambassador for the First Tee, greeting newcomers to the program and explaining what it’s all about. First Tee coach Manuel Gallardo said Ella is the perfect embodiment of the program’s values.
“One of the lessons we teach them is perseverance,” he said. “One of the difficulties she has is walking up and down the hills out here, but she just keeps going. …I think she’s of the most positive students we’ve had. She exemplifies all of what we call the ‘Core Values’ — respect, judgment, perseverance, integrity — she has all of those.”
Ella’s work with the First Tee led to her being named the PGA TOUR Superstore Super Kid of the Month for November. In addition to receiving the title, she will receive equipment donated to her from the PGA Superstore and have her accomplishments promoted nationally.
But all of her success has come at a price. Even at such a young age, Ella has faced cruelty and adversity from her peers — mainly because they don’t understand her differences. In typical Ella fashion, however, she’s seen the silver lining in her trials and tribulations.
“Some kids at school screamed and some kind of pointed (at my leg) — it was just kind of hurtful,” she said. “Sometimes when people ask me (about my leg), my friends stick up for me and say I don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes I end up talking up about. It’s more like the main attraction, that’s why I have so many friends.”
Ella said she wants to continue playing golf and even become “famous” like her older sister Savannah — who was a standout track and field athlete at Gilroy High and now at Sonoma State.
“She gets a lot of inspiration from her sister, she really looks up to her,” Susan said. “(She’s) watched her go to college and succeed and we always go watch her run. She gets a lot from her sister and shares her competitive spirit, too.”
But more than achieving fame or winning titles, Ella has just one simple goal she hopes to accomplish through golf.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in with all the things I can’t do,” she said. “It’s just different for me. I just hope to accomplish just to fit in with everyone.”
She learned how to walk with a prosthetic — that’s all she’s ever known.”