One day when 19 year old Amy Purdy went home early from work, she thought she had the flu, but little did she know that she had bacterial meningitis. In less than 24 hours she found herself in the hospital on life support with a less than 2% chance for survival.
In two and half months at the hospital she lost her spleen, her kidneys, the hearing in her left ear, and both her feet below the knee. Incredibly when she finally went home, she felt the worst was over. But when she received her new feet she felt completely overwhelmed at the prospect of wearing these big, bulky, and ugly feet for the rest of her life. Her legs were so painful and so confining that she felt completely defeated.
But then a thought entered her mind: If her life were a book and she the author, how would she want the story to go? She then imagined herself snowboarding down a mountain, feeling the wind against her face. Her journey from a disabled person with no kideneys barely able to walk to a world champion, gold medal winning snowboarder is incredible and worth watching. Along the way she had to surmount extreme challenges including re-inventing her legs and getting a kidney transplant.
She has now learnt a strong lesson, that the obstacles we face can do one of two things: they can either confine us or they can force us to get creative. She now sees borders as where the actual reality ends and where imagination and the story begins. Are you ready to push off these borders and let your story begin?
Related:
Amy Purdy Web site
Challenged Athletes Foundation
Amy Purdy Facebook Page