Mandy Young is the only one on the planet with a previously-unknown genetic condition that has caused a lifetime of severe medical issues. It took the doctors 23 years to diagnose her and, in the meantime, she was subjected to countless hospital stays and being an object of medical research. Before the age of four, Mandy had Spinal Meningitis three times, tubes put into her ears 11 times, a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body, so many seizures the doctors said she’d be a human vegetable, three separate comas, Scarlet Fever, double Pneumonia, a fever blister outbreak, an infective lymph node, and more. By the age of nine, the doctors amputated her leg.
Yet through it all, God’s grace and Mandy’s trust in her Creator, strengthened and sustained her. Today, not only has the research done on Mandy been used to help people with different serious medical conditions, but God has blessed her with joy and a good humor about it all. God has also blessed Mandy with a family that trusts in Him in the worst of circumstances. Mandy sees purpose in it all and understands that God has important work for her on this Earth that he has preserved her for. Her testimony helps put things in perspective for those who hear it.
Highlights
- Mandy is friends with Kirck Cameron and Candace Cameron Bure, who's last name Justin couldn't pronounce correctly in the episode (it's "Burr-ay").
- She likes to make hilariously creative costumes designed around her amputated leg. She warns that not everyone finds them hilarious, but Justin does.
- Mandy met with David "The Bubble Boy" Vetter's doctors, who told her that had they met her earlier, they would have put her in a bubble, too.
- Mandy is a conference speaker and wants to build a platform to help encourage people to seek God through the midst of all circumstances.