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Robbie Main Image

Image description

Robbie is wearing a black D*List sweatshirt and a pounamu. The background features a broken chain and different textures ripped up. Design: Becki Moss

Robbie Francis Watene on embracing her Lucy Leg

Becki Moss
By Becki Moss

Dr Robbie Francis Watene is a disability rights researcher and mother based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Painting her prosthetic limb fluoro pink as a teenager was part of her coming out as a disabled person, and now sees it as being an integral part of herself.

  • Custom Club is a six-part video series about mobility aids and the liberation they represent, produced by Becki Moss and created in partnership with Independent Living.

  • Read the the transcript of the video of Robbie below.

    [Becki: When did you two meet?]

    Robbie: So when I was about one-year-old, I learned to walk on a prosthetic artificial limb that became commonly known as ‘Lucy Leg’, because I couldn't say the words prosthetic limb or artificial leg at that time and I've lived with Lucy ever since.

    [Becki: What would you say to your younger self who might have been reluctant to use something like this?]

    Robbie: When I was younger, I really used to hide Lucy, like I used to do whatever I could to make it (look) like I didn't have a Lucy and I guess that's just part of growing up and maturing. When I was about 16 years old, that's when I decided to stop making Lucy Leg like this thing I was ashamed of. And that's what I describe as my coming out as a disabled person. And I actually ended up painting Lucy Leg fluoro pink. And so this was the transition from going from, “I don't want anyone to know I have this” to “Hey, this is me. Look at me. I want you to look at it, and I want you to appreciate it because I'm actually really proud of who I am”.

    And so if I was talking to my younger self, that younger self who was ashamed and who didn't want to live with Lucy, I would tell that younger Robbie that better times are coming, that there is a time very soon where you are going to embrace and celebrate this Lucy Leg that you have, and that you will actually come to understand Lucy as being an integral part of your being. Which is so important to your mobility, your freedom, your creativity, your aesthetic. And yeah, I think I would just encourage myself to hang in there.

Image description: Robbie wears a prosthetic leg and smiles warmly seated on a sofa in a cozy lounge. She wears a black D*List sweater and leggings.

  • Robbie 1

Image description: Robbie, with her prosthetic leg, sits on a sofa with her hands clasped on her lap.

  • Robbie 2

Image description:  Robbie is wearing a black D*List sweatshirt and a pounamu. She is seated on the couch with a play set in the background.

  • Robbie 3
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