Lilly's new legs: Santa Rosa 9-year-old regains confidence after fire claims prosthetics

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KTVU) - Among the losses in the devastating North Bay fires were the prosthetic legs of a young Santa Rosa girl who had to leave her home without them.

But 9-year-old Lilly Biagini got her prosthetic legs back Friday.

Lilly visited the Hanger Clinic in San Francisco Friday for a final fitting of her new legs.

"I can walk now. I can do everything by myself. I can run and do everything," said Lilly.

Up until about two weeks ago, Lilly and her mom lived in Santa Rosa's Coffey Park neighborhood.

They escaped the late night firestorm by car.

"I couldn't believe fireballs were coming at us. I was super scared. I couldn't believe how scared I was," said Lilly.

"Very blessed when I saw a police officer directing us. I knew we got down safe," said Jessica Biagini, Lilly's mother.

Their house was destroyed.

Among the rubble are Lilly's prosthetic legs.

"Wow. Everything is gone. My wheelchair. My prosthetics. Everything. I couldn't believe it. I seriously had no words," she said.

But words have not failed Lilly as much as her body has.

She has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition where her joints won't bend from the waist down.

At the age of six she decided to have both legs amputated, wear a prosthesis and be active, rather than keep her legs and be wheelchair bound.

"Her legs are definitely a part of her identity," her mother said.

Lilly could be a poster child for prosthetics. She rides horses and runs track. She even has a doll named Mackenzie complete with prosthetics.

But when the fire claimed Lilly's legs, it also claimed some of her spirit.

That is until Hanger Clinic San Francisco stepped in and made her a new pair of legs for free.

"She's just such a beautiful light in this world to start with and to be able to put that smile back on her face is priceless," said Pola O'Rourke of the Hanger Clinic.

"As Lilly likes to describe it, we're slowly putting Humpty Dumpty back together again," said Lilly's mother Jessica.

The difference in Lilly between having legs and not having them can only be measured in light years.

"I don't feel that confident anymore. But when I got my legs I got it back immediately. I'm super excited," said Lilly.

Jessica Biagini has set up a gofundme account to help defray the costs from the fire.