Jacqueline Williams entered the world on January 1, 1968, carrying a story written long before she took her first breath. Her feet were turned backwards, a shocking reminder of a drug that had altered the lives of thousands of babies across the globe. That drug was Thalidomide.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Thalidomide was widely promoted as a safe and affordable remedy for morning sickness. It was handed out freely, without prescription, even making its way into clinics across the United States despite lacking FDA approval. Jacqueline’s mother was one of the many women given a sample as she fought severe nausea during pregnancy. No one knew that a small pill would shape the rest of Jacqueline’s life.
Doctors told her parents she would not live long. They said she would never walk. But her parents refused to accept that fate, and Jacqueline’s story became one of divine intervention, resilience, and faith. At Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, doctors were able to turn her feet forward. It was a victory, but only the beginning of a long and demanding journey.
Jacqueline’s childhood was far from ordinary. Hospitals became her world. She endured twenty-four major surgeries, each one stealing time that other children spent playing, learning, and discovering life beyond hospital walls. She did not attend public school because she was constantly preparing for or recovering from surgeries. Instead, she grew up within the walls of Crippled Children’s Hospital School, a place dedicated to helping children with severe birth defects at no cost to their families.
There, life moved at its own rhythm. Nurses became extended family, waking the children, feeding them, and wheeling them across the halls each day. The schoolroom, designed like a replica of the White House, served as the backdrop for her lessons, her healing, and her determination to keep moving forward. By sixth grade, she had her final surgery. She continued to rely on crutches and braces until the day her doctors released her. A year later, she experienced a moment that once seemed impossible. She walked on her own.
Today, Jacqueline is 57 years old. She walks, though she cannot bend her legs. Her body carries the imprint of Thalidomide. She is four feet tall with short legs, long arms, nine toes instead of ten, and a heart that has endured its own battle. One valve closed up and required emergency surgery, and a murmur remains, yet she lives with faith and gratitude.
Her physical trials were only part of the story. Jacqueline endured emotional and spiritual challenges that tested her soul. She faced abuse, rejection, abandonment, and manipulation. She searched for love where it could not be found. But without fail, every time life knocked her down, God lifted her back up. Her survival became more than physical. It became spiritual, emotional, and purposeful.
Jacqueline is not simply a survivor. She is an overcomer.
Everything she has endured has deepened her reliance on God. He strengthened her legs when doctors said they would never function. He steadied her heart when the pain became too heavy. And He gave her a voice not shaped by pity, but by purpose. She speaks to testify that miracles still happen and that God remains sovereign even in a world marked by brokenness.
Today, Jacqueline is a watchman, an intercessor, a podcast host, and an author. She has dedicated her life fully to God and continues to use her story to uplift, strengthen, and inspire. She has been featured in Canvas Rebel Magazine as a woman who has not only survived hardship but has risen above it with grace and courage.
Jacqueline was never supposed to live, but she did.
She was never supposed to walk, but she does.
And every day she stands is living proof that God still performs miracles.
Her journey calls us to pay attention, to reflect, and to recognize the quiet and powerful ways faith can move through a life. Jacqueline’s story is not only a testimony of perseverance. It is a reminder that even when the world fails us, God does not.
More information about Overcomer By Jacqueline Williams is Available on Amazon.
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