Tessa Farnham, an 11-year-old Gorham resident loves typical things like theater, drawing, and Harry Potter. But there is something special about Tessa—something less typical. Tessa has a limb difference that only 1 in 32,000 people have called symbrachydactyly, which means she was born with no fingers on one hand, in her case, her left hand. Tessa refers to it as her lucky fin, pointing out the similarities between her short limb and Nemo’s short fin, from the movie Finding Nemo.

After her birth, Tessa’s doctor suggested the Helping Hands Foundation as a resource for the Farnham family, which they have been involved with since Tessa was just one. Headquartered in MA, the foundation’s purpose is to provide support, information, and resources to families like the Farnham’s. Tessa has met people from around the country with limb differences as well as more well-known people, like Tony Memmel. Born with one hand, Memmel, a singer/songwriter, music educator, and motivational speaker tours the country inspiring others. His motto, ‘rise to any challenge’, is one Tessa follows.

Tessa recalls that she began to realize everyone else had two hands when she was around five years old. She shares that there are times she has felt “cast out,” but she focuses on how to use her lucky fin to achieve her goals. “This is going to be a little harder,” Tessa replies when asked how she approaches trying new things. “I try to prove people wrong,” she adds. She stresses that her creativity in finding new ways to do things has been an asset to her success.

When Tessa was nine, she told her parents, Jerry and Marty Farnham, that she wanted to take archery lessons. “Lakeside Archery in Falmouth was happy to help brainstorm ideas that would allow Tessa to participate in archery,” said her father, Jerry. Tessa was a natural and all she needed was a brace to stabilize the bow. Tessa would later become the Indoor and Outdoor state archery champion in her age group and break the record with the best score in the Indoor Shooter category. Besides archery, Tessa taught herself to crochet and play piano… next up, Gorham Middle School swim team.