Nadya Vessey wasn’t always a mermaid. As all little girls know, if you want to be a mermaid, you have to get rid of your legs first!
Born with a problem in both legs, Nadya’s right leg was amputated when she was seven. By High School she was realising the disadvantages of hanging on to her left leg. Surgical boots and built up shoes are no teenage fashion statement and, Nadya jokes, “There are some up sides of being a double amputee: you can choose your height and live in Russia for two years without getting cold feet!”
Nadya’s mum was of middle-eastern descent. She and her sisters were bothered by Nadya’s condition, seeing it as something of a stigma. Nadya’s aunts always told her that she would never get a man. Nadya was determined to succeed and prove her prophets of gloom wrong. With the unfailing emotional support of her father she underwent the knife for the second time at the age of sixteen, and became a, tall and slender, double amputee.
She applied that same determination to the rest of her life and went to university, qualifying as a Home Economics teacher. “I’ve always been a teacher and I love teaching”, says Nadya. She married and, when her daughter grew up, Nadya went back to university and qualified to teach English then travelled the world as a UN volunteer.
In 2003 her wonderful father passed away and Nadya returned to New Zealand to look after her mum. It was there that she approached Weta Workshop to create her mermaid tail. Nadya started swimming in high school and swims almost everyday.
Five-time Oscar winners, Weta are a conceptual design and manufacturing facility and created many of the fantastical looks found in movies such as Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
They donated the man hours and expertise and Nadya obtained a grant from the Kerr-Taylor Foundation Trust to cover the costs of the materials.
Nadya is an incredibly upbeat and philosophical lady. She never allowed her condition to imprison her spirit. Nadya, who now teaches computer skills and anger management at a local prison says “The only prison is the prison of self or the prison of the mind.Don’t hold back, we spend a lot of our lives holding back.”
To watch the amazing video of Nadya taking her mermaid tail to the water go to http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/a-mermaids-tale-4-50-2502188/video
