From the archives: How thalidomide victims fought Ottawa to ease their pain

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About this story

This report was originally published on Nov. 22, 2014, the first instalment in a series on thalidomide survivors. Parliament approved a payout plan in 2015 – smaller than victims had advocated for, but enough for many day-to-day needs. Learn more about how the money has, and hasn’t, changed their lives.

Johanne Hébert survives an ordinary day at home through a series of acrobatic acts. She opens drawers with her toes. She brushes her blond hair by leaning over and running it through a hairbrush screwed into the wall. To take off her dress, she grabs the front of it in her teeth, and jerks her head backward in a swift motion.