Karen Killilea
Karen Killilea, whose strength and determination in the face of cerebral palsy made her admired by those who knew her and those who read her mother’s books about her, died Oct. 30 at a nursing facility in Port Chester. She was
Karen’s mother, Marie Killilea, told her daughter’s story in two best-selling books, “Karen” and “With Love From Karen,” published in and , respectively. They drew praise and letters from around the world.
Karen did not think of herself as disabled; she described herself as “permanently inconvenienced.” She did not allow those inconveniences to sideline her. She worked for about 40 years at Trinity Retreat in Larchmont, where she was the receptionist and an assistant to Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. She was known for her wit, directness and spunk.
Born in Rye to Marie and James Killilea, Karen was three months premature and did not move and develop as most infants do. Her parents took her to many doctors but received neither a diagnosis nor encouragement, until one doctor diagnosed her with cerebral palsy. The Killileas began a program of daily exercises with Karen to build musc
Karen: A True Story Told by Her Mother
Winner of the Christopher Award: This bestseller tells the inspirational true story of a girl with cerebral palsy and the mother who wouldn't give up on her.
In , when Karen Killilea was born three months premature and developed cerebral palsy, doctors encouraged her parents to put her in an institution and forget about her. At the time, her condition was considered untreatable, and institutionalization was the only recourse. But in a revolutionary act of faith and love, the Killileas never gave up hope that Karen could lead a successful life.
Written by Karen's mother, Marie, this memoir is a profound and heartwarming personal account of a young mother's efforts to refute the medical establishment's dispiriting advice, and her daughter's extraordinary triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. Marie's activism spread awareness of the mistreatment of disabled people in America and led to the formation of multiple foundations, including United Cerebral Palsy.
A larger-than-life story, Karen tells of a family's courage, patience, and struggle in the face of extreme difficulty. The New York Times wrote, "You'll want to read
Marie Killilea Edit Profile
founderauthor
Marie Joan Lyons Killilea is the mother of Karen Killilea and an American author, activist, and lobbyist for the rights of people with cerebral palsy.
Background
Marie was the daughter of Thomas P. Lyons, a native of Wales, and Marie A. Powers, an American citizen born in Canada. Her father, a sportswriter for the New York Sun who later became co-owner of a Wall Street brokerage firm, died when she was ten years old.
Education
She attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy in Riverdale, New York and the Katharine Gibbs Business School.
Career
Her work culminated in the formation of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Westchester County. Killilea expressed her religious convictions in her writings. In , Marie was told by her doctors that she had a recurrence of lung cancer and had only three months to live.
On referral, she went to Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Philadelphia for treatment by Doctor Isaac Djerassi.
He prescribed huge doses of Methotrexate, a powerful drug, and in eight months, every trace of her cancer was reportedly eradicated. Marie Killilea died in , aged
Karen
But all the above having been said, as inspiring as Karen is and no matter how much I do appreciate not only reading about how Karen through hard work, through sometimes even tough love and support learns how to walk (albeit with crutches and braces), talk, read and write (how she in her own words learns how to do "everything"), the rather constant religiosity presented in Karen does at times feel a bit uncomfortable and wearing to and for me.
Now please do note that while I am NOT in any manner being critical of the faith in God and Jesus Christ that the Killilea family obviously possesses, presents and which comes through especially strongly in Marie Killilea's writing style, her choice of printed words (for I myself also strongly believe in God), I do find it a trifle repetitive and tedious that Catholicism, that Christianity, th
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