Photos: Love for Alyssa still grows
By Brett Roegiers, CNN
(CNN) - Eight-year-old Alyssa Hagstrom was born with a rare disorder that left her unable to use her arms and legs. Confined to a wheelchair most of the day, she can’t eat without assistance. But that doesn’t stop her from trying.
“She is very self-motivated and wants to be as independent as possible,” says photographer Jennifer Kaczmarek. “Though the reality is that she cannot do most things on her own.”
Kaczmarek met Alyssa just after her fifth birthday. She started photographing her as part of a freelance assignment for a nonprofit group in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Moved by the young girl’s determination and “amazing spirit,” Kaczmarek says she felt compelled to do more.
“When we were done, I wasn’t ready to let go,” she says. “What little I had begun to learn about her was enough for me to know she deserved to have someone in her corner fighting for her.”
Alyssa was diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which is marked by stiff joints and abnormal muscle development. The condition affects approximately one in 3,000 people,
Kaczmarek founded Love for Alyssa last year to help offset the family’s medical costs. Since then, the nonprofit has raised nearly $5,000 with an exhibition and a fundraising walk.
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Also, the Nazis were but one of the many villains Cap has faced (and cvreos like the one shown were clearly in keeping with the propaganda zeitgeist of the time). If Joe & Jack had created Cap five years later, it would have been Stalin he was punching. Nazis didn't make Cap what he was they were merely a convenient means to an end. Taking them out of the equation doesn't change the DNA of who Cap is and what he stands for.