There may be nothing that retired Marine Lt. Col. Paige Thomas and her 8-year-old daughter Paisley Minor can’t do.
When she was just 23 months old, Paisley had both of her legs removed in an above-the-knee amputation due to tibial hemimelia, which caused her hips to be displaced, her tibias to be completely absent and her feet to not correctly form.
“In 2017, my whole life changed because this little one came into the picture,” Thoms said. “I don’t look at things as hard. It’s just a different type of mission.”
In all, Paisley has undergone eight surgeries - including two on her hips. She has also been diagnosed with other physical and mental health development issues.
“She takes everything in stride and smiles through it all,” said Thomas.
Through it all, Thomas said she’s used her military skills to cope and be her daughter’s greatest advocate.
“I treated it like it was an operation,“ she said. “My life's experience put me in a position of problem-solving to look at and ask, what are the options? And how do I get her to be able to run, jump, and play?’”
A native of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Thomas is a graduate of Villanova University and Mount St. Mary College. A 25-year veteran of the Corps, she began her career as a reservist and logistics embarkation specialist before joining the active duty ranks following the Sept. 11, 200,1 terror attacks.
Thomas has deployed to Iraq twice, has been stationed in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and at the Professional Military Education Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia. She also commanded the only Mortuary Affairs unit in the Marine Corps.
Quick to credit the support the Marine Corps provided following Paisley’s birth, Thomas said her family has been thankful to receive assistance from organizations like Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a national nonprofit supporting service members and military families, who immediately stepped in to provide financial assistance.
“We became part of a family when we found out about the Fund,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t a resource that was provided to me. It was more word of mouth.”
Thomas is watching with pride as Paisley develops an independent, can-do spirit.
“She does adaptive sports, adaptive swimming, she’s on a wheelchair basketball team,” Thomas said. “She loves to surf, she does adaptive surfing, wheelchair tennis, seated volleyball.”
Paisley is also part of a dance troupe in Stafford, Virginia.
“She loves to get up on the big stage,” Thomas said.
Thomas is also writing a five-part book series about Paisley’s journey called “It’s a Different World.” Book one, “It’s Okay to be Different,” came out in January of 2024, followed by “One Step at a Time,” and the just released “I Can Do Anything.”
“Attitude is everything and we have to take what life deals us in stride and we have to remember there is a reason we have been selected to do the work,” Thomas said. “I don’t ask for less problems, I ask for more skills. I’m a faithful person. I don’t ask for life to be easier, I ask for me to be better.”
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.