She lived to 80,” said Viltz, who lives near Chicago. Defying all expectations, she learned to walk with crutches, swam, took care of animals, attended Catholic school and eventually lived independently. Instead, the family spent hours each day for a decade moving her limbs back and forth. Doctors told Marie, a fervent Catholic, to institutionalize her daughter. Karen Killilea was the subject of two bestselling books written by her mother, Marie, that chronicled her triumph over her disabilities. One from overseas that made it to their home was simply addressed to “Karen, United States.” But rather than sacks of mail addressed to Santa Claus, as depicted in the 1947 film, the letters were for her older sister. The Killilea family in New York once regularly received so much mail that the post office kept it in big satchels “like in Miracle on 34th Street,” recalls Kristin Viltz.
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