My Left Foot (book)
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My Left Foot is Christy Brown's autobiography, who was born on June 5, 1932 in Dublin in poor conditions. His father was a bricklayer and his mother a housewife. When he was four months old, his mother was the first to notice that there was something wrong with him. Christy could not hold his head upright or control his body movements. After the family had sought medical advice their worst fears were confirmed: Christy was physically handicapped and suffered from an incurable affliction called cerebral palsy. Although the doctors did not believe in Christy's mental intelligence, his mother did not lose faith in her son and supported him as a full member of the family.
Soon Christy discovered that for some reason he could control his left foot and toes. At the age of five he shows his family the first sign of intelligence when he reaches out for a piece of chalk and paints the letter “A” on the floor with his left foot and the help of his mother. From this moment on Christy has found a way to express himself because he is not able to speak like a healthy 5-year-old.
Time goes by and painfully he begins to realize that he is different from his family and friends. At this point of his life he discovers his creative and artistic talent: he is devoted to literature, writing and painting, still done with his left foot.
At the age of 18 Christy goes to Lourdes in France where he meets people whose handicap is even worse than his. There he experiences so much energy and hope that for the first time in his life he decides to accept himself as the person he is and do the best out of it. Soon he starts a new treatment for cerebral palsy which leads to an improvement of his speech and physical control.
At the same time Christy makes the first attempt to write his autobiography. What sounds like Charles Dickens in the beginning changes into the moving story of his life, written in an easy but meaningful language and typed with the toe of his left foot.
My Left Foot was also made into a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown.