Vibrant yellow sand beaches, lush green palm trees shifting in the wind overlooking the Mediterranean-esque stucco and brick buildings of West Palm Beach, Fla. This vacation destination is an oasis many people covet for its tropical sunshine and rolling ocean waters. But for freshman Liddy Anstoetter, West Palm Beach is near and dear to her heart for a different reason.

She has been visiting this oceanfront vacation destination for over five years. But it’s not to surf the waves or snorkel with the abundant sea life. Instead she visits world renowned surgeon Dr. Dror Paley at the Paley Institute. Anstoetter was born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder which results in abnormally short limbs. So she participates in long stays in the sunshine state where Dr. Paley performs her limb lengthening procedures.

Anstoetter began the long journey of limb lengthening at the end of her fifth grade year. Her parents supported her the whole way through.

“I wouldn’t have done any of this if it wasn’t for my parents positivity and guidance,” Anstoetter said. “They are my number one supporters and caregivers.”

These tedious procedures were done in order to fix a bowlegged problem common in many children with achondroplasia. During the procedure, Dr. Paley fixed the leg and attached a fixator to the bone after it was broken. As it healed, Anstoetter could crank the knob on the outside of the fixator, moving the bones apart millimeter by millimeter – thus lengthening the actual bone with newly formed tissue between the two parts.

“That first time I was going for 4 inches added to my height, in addition to having the C-shaped curve in my legs fixed,” Anstoetter said. “I went and stayed in Florida from March to June and couldn’t walk for the three months I was there.”

According to Anstoetter, this first surgery ended up making a difference in common household tasks and everyday tasks such as reaching counters, using sinks and doing activities in school.

“After I saw the difference that first surgery made, I knew it would be a good choice to go back and get lengthened more,” Anstoetter said. “The before and after pictures we have are so different. My height and leg shape was completely changed.”

In July of her eighth grade year, almost two years later, Anstoetter went back to her old friend Dr. Paley to get 6.5 inches added to her height. By September of that year she stood a full 11 inches taller then when she first went to West Palm Beach four years earlier.

Though the long procedures were finally over, Anstoetter’s journey was far from finished. Due to her new leg lengths, her arms now hung too short on her body.

“The arms are a piece of cake everybody at the institute told me,” Anstoetter said. “So that’s what I am doing now with the fixators on my upper arms. I have 3 inches so far and I am going for 5.”

According to Anstoetter, the lengthening of her arms has been a lot easier because she doesn’t have to be confined to a wheelchair as she did with the previous leg surgeries. She can still do everyday tasks, go to school and do the activities she loves such as baking, traveling, art and some sports.

In the future Anstoetter has the option to undergo another leg surgery if she wants to add more height to her 4’11 frame but right now she remains content where she is. Completing the arm lengthening process and then enjoying high school is her next task. In the next couple of years she hopes to join the tennis team since playing is one of her passions as well as swimming. Anstoetter’s confidence and attitude has even impacted the faculty.

“She is a true confirmation of what an amazing girl is,” Director of High School Admissions Sharon Radovich said. “The first time I met her she exuded a wonderful amount of confidence and inspiration.”

The simple phrase “little legs, big heart” Anstoetter says helps define the giving and caring lifestyle she follows through with day to day. When she goes down south and visits her home away from home, The Paley Institute, she also helps kids who are about to go through the same process that she experienced. She serves as a role model for visiting children and adults.

“Liddy helps everyone with their problems even though her plate is loaded even heavier than theirs,” said Ansteotter’s mom Jennifer. “She is so grateful for the life that God has given her and gets her own healing from helping other kids.”

She goes the extra mile when helping kids, teens and adults from the institute. Even with school work and other activities, Anstoetter makes time to personally call, text and talk face to face with others who are starting out where she had already been.

“Right now I facetime with a girl everyday who just had her first surgery,” Anstoetter said. “I love that I can talk to her, because I have done what she is doing and know how it feels.”

To document all of her surgeries and to show prospective patients the truly wonderful transformations she has gone through, Anstoetter has constructed many photo books that sit in Dr. Paley’s office over 1,000 miles away. She also serves as a teen patient navigator which has her deeply rooted in the Paley Foundation community. She says that in the future that she may want to move to Florida and work either in the foundation or perhaps do something in the medical field.

“I could go to the other people in the foundation for anything,” Anstoetter said. “When I go down there once a month to get my arms x-rayed we all get together and have a great time catching up. They are like my second family.”

This December, the Paley Foundation will host its annual 5K race which raises money to fund about 78 free surgeries for children in third world countries.

“I am raising money for the foundation right now,” Anstoetter said. “If the patients all raise enough money there is a big party, and it’s like a big family reunion.”

Anstoetter says she can’t wait to go back in December, because she will be there for more than just a weekend, which is what she is accustomed to now with monthly checkups. She loves seeing her friends that come in from all over the country. And she loves participating in something that relates directly back to helping people like her.

“The whole thing has been a journey,” Anstoetter said. “There have been ups and downs on the road to where I am now. But I know that I am a stronger, more confident person because of where I have gone and what I have been through. I wouldn’t change the path I have taken for anything.”