Brittney Bergeron on 20/20: who is Brittney (Britney) Bergeron?

Brittney Bergeron on 20/20. Who is Brittney Bergeron and why is 20/20 doing a feature on her? Brittney Bergeron is a handicapped teenager with aspirations to be a Paralympian for the 2012 London Paralympics. But what is interesting is how she became handicapped from the waist down, the tragic childhood she had and the horrible crime that led to her paralysis, and the inspiring tale of her struggle to find a home and parents to adopt her. That is what the 20/20 feature contained.

Brittney Bergeron is a product of a broken home. Her drug-dependent parents divorced when she was little and was passed back and forth in a four-year custody battle. When Brittney was 10, her mother Tamara and her new boyfriend Robert Schmidt packed up their trailer and drove Brittney and 3-year-old Kristyanna Cowan to Mesquite, a small gambling town 80 miles north of Las Vegas. There they settled in an RV on the grounds of a casino hotel. While their parents gambled almost every night, Brittney was left to take care of her little half-sister. It was on one such evening that tragedy struck as then 19-year old Beau Maestas and his sister Monique came knocking on their RV to exact revenge. Allegedly, the teenagers bought $125 worth of methamphetamines from Brittney's mother and step dad earlier that night that turned out to be salt. They attacked the two girls and stabbed them, Brittney 27 times - in her arms, chest, back and legs - and Kissy multiple times in the head and neck. Kissy didn't make it but Brittney did, after a grueling operation that not only attempted to save her life but to repair her damaged spinal cord.

Brittney recuperated under the care of generous foster parents in the persons of Judy and Bill Himel. Under their loving care, Brittney was able to conquer the fears and triumphed over her physical difficulties. She was later adopted by the Himels.

And what about the Maestas? More than three years after the crime, the Beau and Monique each pleaded guilty to murder. Beau Maestas was sentenced to death but his case is under appeal, and his sister received life in prison; she won't be eligible for parole until she is 65. On the other hand, Tamara Bergeron and Robert Schmidt were eventually charged with neglect and sentenced to prison.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Brittney Bergeron's story. Please read the complete text of the ABC / 20/20 feature here. You'll be horrified at what she went through but at the same be inspired by how she has recovered.