Meet Lizbeth
Drumming might not be the first activity you think of for a child with one hand, but thanks to Shriners Children’s, Lizbeth Serrano helped keep the beat in her school’s drumline. Lizbeth is one of thousands of children in the U.S. with a limb difference. When the 17-year-old reaches for her drumsticks, one of her hands is robotic.
“Shriners Children’s helped me get my first baby prosthetic (artificial limb),” Lizbeth said. “I’ve been going to Shriners Children’s Chicago since I was 5 months old for my missing limb.”
The hospital offers Chicago’s largest and busiest orthopedic limb differences and prosthetic program for children. Each child and family receives individualized, caring attention from the physicians, prosthetists and specialists.
“At Shriners Children’s, I’ve received the best care,” she said. “The staff and doctors are truly welcoming and really care for their patients. They helped me reach major milestones, and have continued to throughout the years.”
When she wanted to play music, Lizbeth’s hospital care team helped fit her for attachments to hold drumsticks and play other instruments. She now has an Open Bionics fully functional prosthetic, also known as a Hero Arm. She used the high-tech arm to play bass drum in marching band at Elmwood Park High School. Her fellow drummers affectionately called her the “One Hand Bandit!”
“Because of Shriners, kids like me get to experience and do so many things we did not know we could before,” Lizbeth said. “Thanks to the help of Shriners, I’m able to reach my goals.” The hospital even connected her with the opportunity to appear on the turf as a Chicago Bears “Champion of the Game” in 2021, where she met and received signed drumsticks from the Chicago Bears Drumline.
This fall, she plans to attend community college, and eventually would like to become a forensic psychologist, using the strength, health and independence that Shriners Children’s helped her achieve from an early age.
