Finley Thomas is an 11-year-old girl who’s got a morning makeup and skin care routine. She loves Halloween, dressing up, her older brothers and cheering with her squad.
She also uses a wheelchair, has a tracheostomy tube that gets hooked up to a ventilator at night, receives tube feedings for much of her nutrition, and has multiple therapy sessions each week—all the result of a neurological condition she was born with that has recently required a couple of surgeries.
Just don’t tell Finley that any of those things are going to slow her down. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she quickly responds “a princess.” Or a makeup artist. Or a hairdresser.
Her mom, Jennifer Thomas, says Finley is her “social butterfly.” In a N.C. Legislative Building atrium in Raleigh on May 12, Finley was surrounded by a cortége of admirers. She chatted and laughed with the adults in her circle…