rumitoid

She was fifty years before the more famous Helen Keller. Boston, Massachusetts, c.1845

This is a truly sad story... but luckily it has a happy twist. Born of December 21, 1829, when Laura Bridgman was only 24 months old she lost her sight, hearing, sense of smell, and most of her sense of taste after falling ill with scarlet fever.

With no real way to communicate with her, Bridgman was brought to the Perkins School for the Blind. Director Samuel Gridley Howe heard that she could only communicate via rudimentary sign language and he was keen to try and help her.

Bridgman was brought to the school shortly before she turned eight years old, and through a series of learning exercises where she identified various objects she was able to expand her intellect and began communicating with the staff at the school.
https://historydaily.org/colorized-photos-capture-a-different-side-to-history-than-you-already-know/11

I would have given up, defeated, overwhelmed by woe is me. I find it totally unreal the amount of her courage and strength to overcome her tragic state. No victim, a fighter.