Man with half a body defies the odds by 'fathering a child'

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By Mail Foreign Service

Defying expectations: Despite having half a body Kenny Easterday has lived life to the full

Despite only having half a body, Kenny Easterday insists he can live the life of a normal man.
Now he appears to have proved it after claiming he has fathered a child.

Easterday, 35, was born with a rare condition called sacral agenesis, which prevented his spine from developing normally.

When he was just six months old, doctors amputated Kenny's legs and used part of his shinbone to complete his partially-formed spine.


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Rare: Kenny's legs were amputated when he was six months old and a part of his shinbone was used to complete his spine


Kenny is so small he can fit inside a suitcase but that hasn't stopped him playing pool, bowling, working - or having a love life with fianceé Nicky, 33.

In an American television documentary, he and Nicky revealed that they were together seven years ago - after which she became pregnant with her daughter, Desiree.

The pair are soon to found out if Desiree is actually Kenny's child. And they hope to start a new family to join Nicky's two children.

Kenny's greatest dream is to have a child, he revealed in the documentary


Together: Kenny with fianceé Nicky in a still from the American TV documentary


Active: Kenny uses his arms to prop himself up as he plays pool, in a still from a documentary on his life


He is also a fan of bowling, as seen in this clip from the American TV documentary


'I want a child to carry my name, someone that can carry my legacy and be able to say 'Well that's my daddy',' he said.

Kenny was not expected to live past 21.

As a boy Kenny was offered prosthetic legs but he hated wearing them and preferred to use his hands or a skateboard to get around.

'My dad pretty much taught me how to walk on my hands,' said Kenny, from West Virginia, USA.


Handy: Kenny has developed great upper body strength but has to wear gloves to protect his hands

'I just told him to walk behind his mother, because she walks like a duck so just walk like her,' Kenny's father said in documentary made about his life.

As a child Kenny starred in the 1988 film, The Kid Brother, a dramatised version of his early life.

'If I'm handicapped it's because of these damn legs,' Kenny said in the film as he pushes over his prosthetic legs.
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