The story start with Hannah Kritzeck being abandoned by her mother and being left without a family until her fearless parent showed up and took her in. Their names were Jackie and Larry Kritzeck. They showed her love from the beginning, way before she knew there was something unusual about her. Besides her parents she also had the love of her older sister Kelly, and brothers, Mark and Matt. They gave her lots of love even though it wasn’t easy having a daughter with special needs.
It didn’t take long for Hannah to realize that she wasn’t like the other kids. Very soon she looked very different from her siblings and peers and with that came the bullying in school. Luckily she always had her siblings there who did anything to protect her.
Even with her family supporting her life wasn’t easy. Many health issues came with her condition. And she wasn’t the only one that was sick in her family. Her mom got sick with polycystic kidney disease. Hannah saw the opportunity to help and gave her mother her kidney.
Presented with so many difficulties didn’t stop Hannah from wanting and achieving great things. She danced and did gymnastics. Because her condition comes with a limited life expectancy she is determined to do as much as possible.
She had multiple acting roles, been a guest in talk shows, a documentary about her life and she’s met Selena Gomez.
Now as a grown up, Hannah has a few really good friends, Emily and Heidi, and she spends a lot of her time with them. Besides her friends she also always has her family who supports her and loves her. She now even has nephews and nieces! The only thing that isn’t on a level she would want it is her love life. She had a love connection with Brad, a friend who had the same condition, but unfortunately he passed away before they could explore their relationship.
She is determined to have a fun time with the time she has left, so whenever her friends are up to something fun and daring, she is always invited. Her ultimate wish is to see the world and she would love it if she could do that through her dancing.
Her mother Jackie is very proud of her daughter and everything she does but at the same time she worries for her health. They are best friends and they expect third relationship will only get stronger. The fact that Hannah has a limited life expectancy is a topic Jackie doesn’t like to talk about but is aware is something they need to deal with. They have a very special bond because they both helped each other out when they needed it the most.
Hannah is very serious with working with the Potentials Foundation and they organized a fundraiser with the motto “Size never defines potential.” The Foundation has become quite big and now helps about 50 families that have dealt with primordial dwarfism. It is present in 10 foreign countries and 19 states in the US.
A common feature of primordial dwarfism is that people affected by it tend to look very young, much younger than they actually are. As they are their weight and height will differ from their peers more and more. Hannah for example, is now a grown woman, and her height is 39 inches and is only about 30 punds heavy. There have been about 100 cases of this condition that have been recorded and it is rare that a person with primordial dwarfism live over the age of 30.
If anything, Hannah is living proof that whatever the circumstances you were born with, if you are positive you can make the most of life. Even if you are evidentially different from the rest of the people you can still have a healthy happy life. Hannah is aware that she never knows when her life might come to an end but even that didn’t stop her from giving one of her kidneys to her mom in need. She is, as is her family, full of hope that before her life comes to an end medical science will have a breakthrough that will help her live a longer life.
