Poppy's Positive Vibe Inspires Husker Softball

Poppy once fibbed to her father that she knew how to swim, so he innocently threw her into the ocean, and as she struggled to keep her head above water, a shark bit off part of her left arm.
 
The 11-year-old girl with long, curly hair smiles and rolls her eyes.
 
"Some kids at school actually fell for that one," Poppy said.
 
It's not her only joke about her missing arm, but certainly her favorite. She likely inherited the humor approach from her parents, Amy and Jeromy Doele.
 
"That's the best way to deal with it," Amy said.
 
See, three ultrasounds during Amy's pregnancy revealed no problems, so when Poppy was born without part of her left arm, from near her elbow, her surprised parents quickly had to decide how to tell friends and family. They knew however they acted would affect everybody else. If they appeared nervous and uncertain, others would be, too.
 
So they interjected some lightheartedness into the situation.
 
"When we called everyone," Amy said, "we said, 'Well, not only does she not have a left arm, but her name is Poppy.'

"I think it was a bigger shock that we named her Poppy."
 
Yes, that's her real name, an idea Amy and Jeromy had long before Amy was pregnant, when they saw the name of actress Poppy Montgomery roll through the credits of a television show.
 
"Now everybody says it's the perfect name for her because she's a really fun, 'poppy' person," Amy said. "At least, that's what the word means to me. It sounds pretty positive."
 
Members of the Nebraska softball team can attest that Poppy is indeed a name that fits.
 
Nebraska coach Rhonda Revelle, after reading a story from Lincoln Journal Star columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick about Poppy attending the Wounded Warrior Amputees Kids Camp, wanted Poppy to visit her team. She coordinated the visit through the Nebraska Life Skills department.
 
"I thought it'd be wonderful for her and great for our team to be around a young person that has a disability but obviously doesn't make it a disability," Revelle said. "I just think any time you can be among people that are inspiring like that and always look at what they can do versus what they can't do, I think that would brighten anybody's day."
 
Poppy attended her first Nebraska practice, during the beginning of the fall season, in the middle of September, "and it all just kind of snowballed from there," Amy said.
 
Poppy returned to serve as a bat girl during a game, and has since returned for other games, where she stays in the dugout, chatting with the players and asking questions about softball in between her trips to retrieve bats.
 
"She changes the atmosphere in the dugout," Nebraska catcher Ally Riley said. "She brings such a light in there."
 
Revelle noticed and felt Poppy's positive vibe from the first day they met, when Poppy talked to the team.


 
"Here she is, speaking to us with such maturity and glee," Revelle said. "Then, I forget how it happened, but all of the sudden she dropped to the ground and she started doing pushups."
 
Pushups with one arm, actually. Her half arm, in fact.
 
Yes, Poppy admits, she did it to garner some attention from the players.
 
"They started freaking out and screaming," Poppy said.
 
Riley said Poppy is "sassy and witty," traits that make her fit in well on a team full of fun personalities.
 
As for the one-armed pushups?
 
"I thought, 'This kid, she will not let anyone tell her no.' She won't let anyone tell her she can't do what everyone else can do," Riley said.
 
"She's just so active in absolutely everything she can get her hands on," Riley said. "It's like she has no idea she has a handicap. It doesn't inhibit her at all."
 
One of Poppy's favorite things is when people forget she's missing part of her arm. She tells the story of giving a presentation in one of her classes at school.
 
"I was holding a mic in one arm, and I was pointing with my 'Shorty,' because I couldn't pick up the pointer," Poppy said. "My teacher was like, 'Poppy, use the pointer.'
 
"I just looked at her like, 'Really? Really.' My friends just started to die laughing. Then she's like, 'Oh my God, Poppy! I'm so sorry!"
 
No apology necessary. It means someone sees Poppy as way more than a kid without a left hand.
 
Way, way more.
 
"It just happens to be a part of who she is," Amy said.
 
And it also happens to serve as a positive, valuable lesson to the Nebraska softball team for when it's facing adversity.
 
"It just shows you that most obstacles in your life are mind over matter," Riley said. "No matter the setback or things that happen to you, it's always about having a positive attitude and being able to overcome anything."
 
Poppy is welcome to be with the softball team and its activities any time she wants. The night before her 11th birthday earlier this week, she went out with the players on a bowling trip.
 
"It's a little bit like having 20 older sisters," Amy said. "They all treat her like they're her siblings."
 
Poppy's a busy girl, though. In addition to softball, she plays soccer and flag football. She also sings and enjoys theater, and was part of three productions at the Haymarket Theater in Lincoln from January through June. So whether she's able to continue her bat girl duties in the spring will depend on her schedule, although Amy estimates Poppy should be able to attend a majority of the Huskers' home games.

Revelle, for one, certainly hopes so.
 
"Over each visit, I think there's been such a mutual admiration and respect that's growing between her and the players," Revelle said.
 
"Just watching her go about her life is so great for anybody, I don't care how old we are. And the spirit with which she does it is incredible."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.