Cali Overcast of Fountain, CO, was only four years old when the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place, but she’s never forgotten the impact it had on her young life.

Overcast, winner of Minneapolis, MN-based Otto Bock’s Socket Art Contest, was born with a type of dwarfism called Ollier’s that affected the growth of her left leg and has so far required 14 surgeries.  A staph infection required the amputation of her leg when she was just nine years old.

“When I woke up, I remember how I thought about how was I going to deal with this,” Overcast, now 13, wrote in her application essay. “Then I remembered something my Mom always told me, that there is always someone dealing with something worse.  My first thought was the soldiers and how some of them were getting their arms and legs blown off by bombs and being shot at constantly.”

Overcast’s winning socket art has a camouflage background and military logos on the front and a red, white and blue eagle below. She also spends time to talking to wounded service members, hoping to inspire them by sharing her experiences of life after limb loss.