Triple amputee becomes pediatrician

LOS ANGELES, May 27 (UPI) -- A Michigan woman who lost her legs and an arm to illness is about to realize her dream of becoming a medical doctor who treats children.

Kellie Lim graduates Friday from UCLA's medical school and then is to begin a residency program there in pediatrics, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Lim was 8-years-old when a bacterial infection forced the amputation of her legs and arm. From then on, she endured a life of of prosthetics, wheelchairs and often-painful rehabilitation.

"Just having that experience of being someone so sick and how devastating that can be -- not just for me but for my family too -- gives me a perspective that other people don't necessarily have," said Lim, 26.

  Of all the specialties she investigated during medical school, only her work with children left her "smiling at the end of the day," she said.

 Lim completed medical school with a determination that awed her professors and fellow students and won her the school's top prize for excellence in pediatrics.