Unbelievable Duck Story: Disabled duck inspires

[Guest guest]

Disabled duck inspires

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - For more than two years, Backman has cared for a little

one with a neurological disorder - feeding her, changing her diapers, helping to

teach her to move with a walker.

Now that baby is getting around with her own webbed feet.

Lemon, a Pekin duck, has been physically disabled since she hatched in the

kindergarten class Backman used to teach in Portsmouth.

Backman, 39, has now turned Lemon's life story into an illustrated children's

book, " Lemon the Duck, " to teach tolerance and inspire hope in children,

disabled or not.

After Lemon hatched, her balance problems were immediately apparent. She

couldn't walk on her own - and she still can't, because of a neurological

problem her veterinarian suspects could have been caused by temperature or

humidity problems during incubation, or by viruses or other infectious agents

getting through the shell.

The handful of other chicks hatched in the kindergarten class incubator all went

to pre-arranged homes, but Backman agreed to take on Lemon and all the tender

care she would require.

" That's one of the things I'm trying to give her, is a ducky life, even though

she can't live outside with the ducks, " Backman says. " I know it probably sounds

like I'm obsessed with her. And I am. But it's a good obsession. "

Backman said she's always loved children's books and thought Lemon's life was

worthy of print. Her publisher agreed.

" We just thought it was a fantastic inspiration story, what she's done with

this duck, " says Meghan Nolan, editorial director at Lobster Press, a Canadian

kids' book publishing company that put Lemon's story in print. " The messages

were really nice for kids, about acceptance and embracing difference. "

The book - Backman's first - describes the true story of how children come to

understand Lemon's disability and rally around her, devising ways to help and

taking turns feeding her.

By the end of the book, Lemon mucks around in the grass with other ducks thanks

to a feeding harness. Backman's character - called Ms. Lake in the book - tells

her students Lemon will always need them.

" I think we need her, too, " says one student as he hugs Lemon.

In real life, Lemon is cuddly, sociable and never shy. Her disability is

obvious: When Lemon attempts a movement, her neck twists around until the bottom

of her beak is facing skyward and the tuft of white feathers on her crown is

pinned to her breast. Sometimes she gets herself untangled. More often, Backman

gently pries loose her head.

But Lemon goes right back to eating or pushing herself around in a specially

designed walker. The " Lemobile " is about a foot-and-a-half-square contraption

made of white PVC piping, a sling and smooth-rolling wheels. Lemon kicks her

feet, wags her tailfeathers and propels herself forward or in circles.

" She's very feisty. She has a real zest for life, " Backman says in an interview

as Lemon quacks contentedly in the family's airy, waterfront home in Portsmouth.

Because Lemon can't control her bodily functions, she has to wear diapers that

Backman changes six times a day. Backman bathes her every morning and carts her

almost everywhere she goes. Lemon has been with Backman to dentist appointments

and relative's sonograms.

Backman was introduced to ducks by her father, who kept them as pets when she

was a child. He developed multiple scleroris, and she and her family had to help

him with every need.

" My dad couldn't do anything for himself, but we didn't let that stop him from

having a full life, " Backman said.

In her book, Backman names one of the kids , after her father, who died

about a year before Lemon hatched.

A couple veterinarians Backman consulted questioned Lemon's quality of life and

implied she might consider euthanization. But that was never an option for

Backman, in part because she was assured Lemon isn't in pain.

" She really does spoil and love this duck, and she's a happy little duck, " said

Link, president of the Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary in Connecticut.

Link's organization is receiving some of the proceeds from Backman's book, as is

the Rhode Island Multiple Sclerosis Society.

About 10,000 copies of the book are currently in print. It costs $19.95 and can

be ordered online through Lemon's website, www.lemontheduck.com, or through

traditional online booksellers.

Baker Books, in Dartmouth, Mass., recently hosted Lemon and Backman for a book

reading.

" Lemon is to die for, " said Gretchen Baker-, who helps run children's

events at the store. " She's very tolerant of kids, and lots of people having

her, and being in the middle of pandemonium. "

Lemon only rarely quacked, which made kids jump.

" Kids are used to being at the local park here, " Baker- said. " You can see

the ducks and the geese. Some of them are really, really aggressive. I think

some of them were thinking that's how she was going to be, but she wasn't. "

Since Pekin ducks can live a decade or longer, Lemon could have more years of

book readings - a sequel is in the works - entertaining school kids and having

her beak and feet rubbed, which she loves.

" She's very happy, " Backman says. " Every morning she just wants to go, go, go. "