1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:01,920
Speaker 1: You could be anything you want to be at any

2
00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:12,000
Speaker 1: time you want to be. There are no rules.

3
00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,840
Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Emily Abadi here, Welcome to rewind on Hurdle

4
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,639
Speaker 2: five days of episodes from the Hurdle Vault. I cannot

5
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 2: even tell you how often I get requests for interviews

6
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,239
Speaker 2: with some of the amazing, amazing people that I have

7
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,800
Speaker 2: already had the privilege of sitting down with, and sometimes

8
00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 2: I'm able to do a round two around three. But

9
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 2: that is what this week is all about. It's me

10
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,040
Speaker 2: bringing you some of my favorite conversations back to the

11
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 2: top of the feed from the last five years. Now.

12
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,800
Speaker 2: I'll be honest, it's easy for me to forget that

13
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,920
Speaker 2: there are new people joining the hurdle community every single week,

14
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,160
Speaker 2: which means that there is a lot of content to

15
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,240
Speaker 2: catch up on helping ever one on their journey to

16
00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,880
Speaker 2: live happier, healthier, more motivated lives. Today you will be

17
00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:12,360
Speaker 2: hearing from best selling author, keynote speaker, three time Paralympic.

18
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,679
Speaker 3: Medalist Amy Party.

19
00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:19,319
Speaker 2: This conversation originally aired in July of twenty eighteen, so

20
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 2: it's definitely a throwback. Make sure you're following along with

21
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,080
Speaker 2: Hurdle over on Social's at Hurdle podcast. I am over

22
00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,000
Speaker 2: at Emily a body and with that, let's rewind, let's

23
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:30,560
Speaker 2: get to hurdling.

24
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:36,919
Speaker 3: Today.

25
00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,040
Speaker 4: I'm sitting here with Amy Purty. She's a Paralympic medalist

26
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,760
Speaker 4: and a champion snowboarder, a total badass. Thanks so much

27
00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:44,919
Speaker 4: for sitting down with me today.

28
00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:46,600
Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks for having me.

29
00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,160
Speaker 2: I have to admit I'm kind of in awe of

30
00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:55,920
Speaker 2: this opportunity. I was listening.

31
00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,920
Speaker 4: I feel like everyone that I admire has sat down

32
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,640
Speaker 4: with you, and the thought that I'm sitting here right

33
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,920
Speaker 4: now in Vale, Colorado and sitting down with you is

34
00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,960
Speaker 4: just really special. Before we even really kick this off,

35
00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,200
Speaker 4: can you talk to me about what it was like

36
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,280
Speaker 4: when you realize that you were in Oprah's book?

37
00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:19,640
Speaker 1: Okay, yes, crazy, I'm sure real like that. It's so

38
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,240
Speaker 1: crazy because I feel like that was like a massive

39
00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,200
Speaker 1: I don't know, and not an accomplishment, but for me,

40
00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,280
Speaker 1: just one of the biggest things that I've been a

41
00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,000
Speaker 1: part of and to be thought of from Oprah and

42
00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,240
Speaker 1: she hands selected who is going to be in her book,

43
00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,120
Speaker 1: and to be one of those people in her book,

44
00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:41,200
Speaker 1: it's you know, I felt like I made it I

45
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 1: did it, whatever that means, I made it.

46
00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,160
Speaker 3: It's like adult goals. It's so funny.

47
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,440
Speaker 4: It's like you get on the podium in the Olympics, right,

48
00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:49,320
Speaker 4: and that's amazing.

49
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:50,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I feel like I can put it on

50
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,840
Speaker 1: my resume, Like, well, I'm an Oprah's book, So that

51
00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:54,720
Speaker 1: tells you anything.

52
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,480
Speaker 4: I also do speaking engagement. Talk to me a little

53
00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,000
Speaker 4: bit about how you got into snowboarding in the first book.

54
00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,919
Speaker 1: So, I grew up in Las Vegas, which most people

55
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,800
Speaker 1: don't think of a professional skier snowboarder coming from Las Vegas,

56
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,000
Speaker 1: but we actually had ski resorts just around where I lived,

57
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,960
Speaker 1: actually forty five minutes from my house, we had a

58
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,400
Speaker 1: ski resort. And so I used to ski when I

59
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,040
Speaker 1: was small. I was never good at it, and then

60
00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,359
Speaker 1: I started snowboarding when I was fifteen. And I really

61
00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:27,800
Speaker 1: just found myself when I started snowboarding, because in high school,

62
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,000
Speaker 1: I mean, we all know how challenging high school can be.

63
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,800
Speaker 1: My sister was a cheerleader and super popular, and you know,

64
00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,040
Speaker 1: dated dated like the head football player and homecoming queen

65
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,760
Speaker 1: and that whole thing, and so I didn't know. I

66
00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:44,720
Speaker 1: just didn't know who I was. I didn't know if

67
00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,720
Speaker 1: that's what I was trying to do, is follow her footsteps,

68
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,320
Speaker 1: and just didn't know where I fit in high school

69
00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,360
Speaker 1: and I ended up meeting a group of skateboarders who

70
00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,720
Speaker 1: also were snowboarders and artists and musicians, and they took

71
00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,800
Speaker 1: me snowboarding one day and fell in love with it,

72
00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,640
Speaker 1: and I picked it up really fast, and yeah, I

73
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,920
Speaker 1: just kind of I found my people and then found

74
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,600
Speaker 1: the space that I wanted to be in. And I

75
00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,800
Speaker 1: loved snowboarding. I loved being outside, being with my friends.

76
00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,280
Speaker 1: I loved that there weren't any rules, you know, like

77
00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,599
Speaker 1: like a team sport, there's all these rules, and snowboarding

78
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,080
Speaker 1: it's like you can just you can create whatever trick

79
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,039
Speaker 1: you want, do whatever you want. So we'd go up

80
00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,720
Speaker 1: to the mountains after school and build little jumps and

81
00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 1: just play and just play.

82
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,880
Speaker 4: How soon after getting started with snowboarding, did you realize

83
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:37,040
Speaker 4: that you were really good at it?

84
00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 1: You know what. I wouldn't say that I was really

85
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,800
Speaker 1: good at it, but I was. I was. I was

86
00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,880
Speaker 1: natural when it came to just picking picking it up.

87
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,760
Speaker 1: So some people, you know, have to go through lessons,

88
00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:50,800
Speaker 1: and like you have to when I teach snowboarding. Now,

89
00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,839
Speaker 1: I tell people they need four days, like four good

90
00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,440
Speaker 1: solid days, and then you got it. Whereas for me,

91
00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,160
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, I think it's because these guys, all

92
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,760
Speaker 1: these guys who I had crushes on, took me up

93
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,920
Speaker 1: to the mountain and they were like, follow us, and

94
00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,680
Speaker 1: that's it. They didn't they didn't teach me how to snowboard.

95
00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,240
Speaker 1: They were just like, keep up. And so I remember

96
00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,239
Speaker 1: getting off the chair lift and them just taking off,

97
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,480
Speaker 1: and it was a powder day, it had there was

98
00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,440
Speaker 1: a couple inches of snow, so I could see their

99
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,640
Speaker 1: tracks and I just thought, okay, I'm just going to

100
00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,000
Speaker 1: stay in their tracks, and so I ended up just

101
00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:25,680
Speaker 1: picking it up. By the end of the day, I

102
00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,360
Speaker 1: was carving and maybe not keeping up with the boys,

103
00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,600
Speaker 1: but definitely working my way down the mountains.

104
00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,120
Speaker 3: As things you do when you're chasing a cute guy.

105
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,320
Speaker 1: Honestly, I know, it's so funny. It was full motivation

106
00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:36,680
Speaker 1: for me.

107
00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,159
Speaker 4: So you're a teenager and you're getting into snowboarding and

108
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,800
Speaker 4: you start to realize that something feels a little off.

109
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, actually, so all of this happened very fast,

110
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,799
Speaker 1: within twenty four hours, So I was a massage therapist.

111
00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,840
Speaker 1: And the reason I became a massage therapist was because

112
00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,000
Speaker 1: I wanted to travel the world in snowboard and I

113
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,200
Speaker 1: wanted to have a job that would travel with me.

114
00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,760
Speaker 1: So I thought, all I need is my hands, my

115
00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 1: massage table. I can go anywhere. And my plan was

116
00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,800
Speaker 1: to live in different ski resorts and snowboard and massage basically.

117
00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,160
Speaker 1: And so and I loved my job as a massage therapist,

118
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,840
Speaker 1: and I was actually very good at that as well.

119
00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,200
Speaker 1: And because I just yeah, I realized I enjoyed, I

120
00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,679
Speaker 1: guess healing, you know, the healing arts and helping people

121
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,320
Speaker 1: one way or another. And so anyways, I went to

122
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,880
Speaker 1: work one day. I got hired at this amazing spa

123
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,359
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas, a world class spa. I was the

124
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,680
Speaker 1: youngest massage therapist hired. And I went to work one

125
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,400
Speaker 1: day and I felt great in the morning, just like

126
00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 1: any nineteen year old would feel. And then halfway through

127
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,320
Speaker 1: the day I started to feel really tired. I remember

128
00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,560
Speaker 1: massaging this guy and just being absolutely exhausted, and I

129
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,279
Speaker 1: was thinking, God, this guy is just draining me. And

130
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: so after I took a break after that massage, thinking well,

131
00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,000
Speaker 1: maybe I have the flu, maybe I have a cold

132
00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,680
Speaker 1: or something. So I just went to the lunch room

133
00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 1: and took a break. But I started to feel worse.

134
00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,039
Speaker 1: I started to feel like my neck was ache and

135
00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,880
Speaker 1: my back was achy, and started thinking that I had

136
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,040
Speaker 1: the flu. So I decided to go home from work early.

137
00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,360
Speaker 1: And that night I had a temperature of one hundred

138
00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,080
Speaker 1: and one, so that's like typical flu like symptoms. Next morning,

139
00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,600
Speaker 1: my temperature actually broke, so I was supposed to go

140
00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,080
Speaker 1: out of town with my family, but I just told

141
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,440
Speaker 1: them don't worry about me because I probably have some

142
00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:30,760
Speaker 1: twenty four hour flu or something, and that's all we

143
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,480
Speaker 1: thought that I had. But that afternoon, instead of getting better,

144
00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,800
Speaker 1: I started to get worse. And at one point, I

145
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,280
Speaker 1: remember I was laying in my parents' bed. That's always

146
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,160
Speaker 1: where I went when I was sick, and they had

147
00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,320
Speaker 1: a TV in their room, so I was laying in

148
00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:50,160
Speaker 1: their bed and I was so tired and I fell asleep,

149
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,840
Speaker 1: and I fell into the deepest sleep that I've ever

150
00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 1: felt like I couldn't wake myself up. I kept trying

151
00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,000
Speaker 1: to open my eyes and I kept trying to wake up,

152
00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: and I couldn't. And then suddenly I heard this voice say, Amy,

153
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,920
Speaker 1: get up and look in the mirror, and I immediately

154
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,160
Speaker 1: opened my eyes. I looked around. There was nobody there.

155
00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,760
Speaker 1: And as I was sitting up, I started to realize

156
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,880
Speaker 1: that something was really wrong because my heart was beating

157
00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,640
Speaker 1: out of my chest. I was shaky, I was dizzy,

158
00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,000
Speaker 1: but I was so weak, and it probably took me

159
00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,280
Speaker 1: a good like three to five minutes just to get

160
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,840
Speaker 1: into a seated position. And then I scooted to the

161
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,080
Speaker 1: edge of the bed. I put my feet on the

162
00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,360
Speaker 1: floor and I stood up, and I realized that I

163
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,760
Speaker 1: couldn't fill my feet. And when I looked at the floor,

164
00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:34,600
Speaker 1: I saw that my feet were purple, and then I

165
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,000
Speaker 1: saw that my hands were purple. And then I looked

166
00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: at my reflection in the mirror and I saw that

167
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,800
Speaker 1: my nose, my chin, my cheeks were purple as well.

168
00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,400
Speaker 1: So I went into a full panic. At the same time,

169
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,120
Speaker 1: I felt like I was dying. I knew that I

170
00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,120
Speaker 1: was dying so randomly. Right then, my cousin walked in

171
00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,680
Speaker 1: because my mom had called her to come check on me,

172
00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,520
Speaker 1: and yet she walked in. She said, oh my god,

173
00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,520
Speaker 1: it looks like you're dead. And I said, I'm dying.

174
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:02,680
Speaker 1: I know, I am. I got to get to the hospital.

175
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,520
Speaker 1: So she rushed me to the hospital. And that was

176
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,559
Speaker 1: the beginning of a very you know, intense and crazy journey.

177
00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,240
Speaker 4: Were you kind of keeping it together when you're like

178
00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:15,319
Speaker 4: understanding what's happening?

179
00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:16,559
Speaker 3: Are you just hysterical?

180
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,720
Speaker 1: I was that hysterical. I kept it together. Actually, I

181
00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,960
Speaker 1: was like, which is crazy? My cousin she had no

182
00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,360
Speaker 1: gas in her car. She was like, I got to

183
00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,200
Speaker 1: go to a gas station. I was like, there's not time.

184
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:29,280
Speaker 1: I said, take my truck. Well, she didn't know how

185
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:30,800
Speaker 1: to drive a stick shift, and I was like, well,

186
00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,160
Speaker 1: I'll teach you. Like I was like, whatever we got

187
00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:34,680
Speaker 1: to do to get to the hospital right now. And

188
00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,600
Speaker 1: I don't know why we didn't think of calling nine

189
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,880
Speaker 1: one one right, but I just thought it would be faster.

190
00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:39,880
Speaker 3: She was already there.

191
00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, like, let's get in a car and go and

192
00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,400
Speaker 1: if we break down, we'll figure it out. But on

193
00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,320
Speaker 1: the way to the hospital, my lungs were collapsing, so

194
00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,440
Speaker 1: I had to like talk myself through every breath I took,

195
00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:55,719
Speaker 1: Like I was like, breathe, breathe, breathe, because my I mean,

196
00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,199
Speaker 1: I was I was dying. I'm lucky that I survived,

197
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,239
Speaker 1: just that, you know, next hour.

198
00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:03,640
Speaker 3: So what's happening here?

199
00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,280
Speaker 1: So I was going into septic shock because I contracted

200
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,800
Speaker 1: meninjacaffl meningitis, which is a bacteria and it's spread like

201
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,640
Speaker 1: the flu or the cold. So just you know, maybe

202
00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,760
Speaker 1: somebody sneezed on me and the elevator at work, and

203
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,320
Speaker 1: that's how I got it, because it's it's airborne in

204
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,840
Speaker 1: the sense that you know, if somebody sneezes or coughs,

205
00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,360
Speaker 1: then that bacteria can get on your nose and mouth

206
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,560
Speaker 1: and that's how it gets into your body. But the

207
00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:34,760
Speaker 1: thing is that this bacteria, it's called Niceria nmenetitis, I

208
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,480
Speaker 1: think it's what it's called, but that bacteria is actually

209
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,160
Speaker 1: very common. One in four people are carriers of it.

210
00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,280
Speaker 1: They're just not sick from it because our bodies are

211
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,480
Speaker 1: immune to it and our bodies know to fight it off.

212
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,600
Speaker 1: It's almost like staff in the sense that like everybody

213
00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,320
Speaker 1: has staff on them, but not everybody gets sick, you know,

214
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,640
Speaker 1: from the staph infection. So it's similar to that where

215
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,320
Speaker 1: it's really rare to get sick from it, but when

216
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,840
Speaker 1: you do, it's deadly, and so yeah, something like eighty

217
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,480
Speaker 1: five percent deadly in the first twenty four hours of

218
00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,000
Speaker 1: your first flu like symptom. And the hardest part with

219
00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,160
Speaker 1: it too, is you think you have the flu. So

220
00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,160
Speaker 1: there was nothing telling me that I had anything else

221
00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,560
Speaker 1: but the flu at that point until suddenly I was

222
00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:20,560
Speaker 1: in septic shock and going into cardiac arrest and everything,

223
00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,120
Speaker 1: and so when I entered the hospital, they put me

224
00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:24,920
Speaker 1: on life support right away. They had no idea what

225
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,320
Speaker 1: they had what I had. They thought I had toxic

226
00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,120
Speaker 1: shock syndrome at first, so you know, they did blood

227
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,560
Speaker 1: cultures and they had to put all these ivs in me,

228
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,080
Speaker 1: and they ended up filling me up with oh my gosh,

229
00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,200
Speaker 1: fifty pounds of water. Yeah. So I went in at

230
00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,040
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty pounds and by the time my

231
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,680
Speaker 1: parents saw me, I was one hundred and seventy five pounds.

232
00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,720
Speaker 1: So completely looked totally different because I had no pressure

233
00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,080
Speaker 1: in my veins, so they had to just keep filling

234
00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,000
Speaker 1: me with water so they could get medication in me

235
00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:55,920
Speaker 1: and stuff, and they didn't think I was going to

236
00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,280
Speaker 1: make it through the night. They told my family they

237
00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,160
Speaker 1: needed to say goodbye. So my family brought in like

238
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,840
Speaker 1: every friend I had, and everybody was surrounding me saying goodbye,

239
00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,200
Speaker 1: and I remember thinking it was very it was very

240
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,400
Speaker 1: much an outer body experience for me because I remember

241
00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 1: I was gasping for air and I knew I was dying,

242
00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,360
Speaker 1: yet at the same time, there was a part of me.

243
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,520
Speaker 1: It's almost like a part of me detached from my body,

244
00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:24,040
Speaker 1: because there's a part of me that was kind of thinking, like,

245
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,199
Speaker 1: all these people think I'm dying, but like there was

246
00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,880
Speaker 1: something comical about it, which is so weird in my mind.

247
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,160
Speaker 1: I was like, all right, guys, like, don't you think

248
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,559
Speaker 1: this is a little extreme. Everybody's saying they're goodbyes at

249
00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:40,280
Speaker 1: the same time I'm gasping for air or trying to breathe.

250
00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,880
Speaker 1: So it was just this interesting, like outer body, you know,

251
00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:45,920
Speaker 1: surreal experience.

252
00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,120
Speaker 3: And when does it turn the corner? When are you

253
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 3: not dying anymore?

254
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,680
Speaker 1: Took a couple of weeks, so I that next week

255
00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:55,720
Speaker 1: or two was the worst.

256
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:56,400
Speaker 3: Yeah.

257
00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,840
Speaker 1: I was put on life support, put into an induced coma.

258
00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,199
Speaker 1: My parents had no idea if I'd wake up again.

259
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,200
Speaker 1: At that point, my spleen burst. I was rushed into

260
00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,920
Speaker 1: this emergency surgery and the doctors didn't think I was

261
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,079
Speaker 1: going to survive the surgery at all. This my spleen

262
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,160
Speaker 1: bursts inside of me and they had like five minutes

263
00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,920
Speaker 1: to get it out or something crazy, and so, and

264
00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,079
Speaker 1: I had a near death experience when that happened. And

265
00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,560
Speaker 1: then just all my organs were hemorrhaging, except for my

266
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,560
Speaker 1: heart and my brain, which is amazing to me, like

267
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,600
Speaker 1: the most the two most important organs were okay, and

268
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,600
Speaker 1: so yeah, it was very touch and go for about

269
00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,800
Speaker 1: two weeks there. But then as I started to wake

270
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,080
Speaker 1: up from this coma, that's when I realized that my

271
00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,360
Speaker 1: hands and my feet were in big trouble because of

272
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,760
Speaker 1: the septic shock that I went into. I lost circulation

273
00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,800
Speaker 1: to my hands and my feet, so my fingers were black,

274
00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,680
Speaker 1: the soles of my feet were black, my feet were purple,

275
00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:58,280
Speaker 1: my toes were black. And basically, when you're in septic shock,

276
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,640
Speaker 1: your body pulls blood from your extra bodies to save

277
00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,240
Speaker 1: your organs. So that's what was happening, and that's why

278
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,920
Speaker 1: I saw That's why I couldn't feel my feet, you know.

279
00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:07,600
Speaker 1: And I woke up that one day, I couldn't feel

280
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,000
Speaker 1: my feet, I couldn't fel my hands because I was

281
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,440
Speaker 1: starting to go into septic chalk before I got to

282
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,760
Speaker 1: the hospital, and then it just the They were doing

283
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,920
Speaker 1: everything they could to save my hands and my feet,

284
00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,360
Speaker 1: and so I was very aware that that there's the

285
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,680
Speaker 1: possibility that I was going to lose my legs, and

286
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,880
Speaker 1: we thought I was losing my hands as well. But

287
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:32,560
Speaker 1: I got very lucky that my hands turned around. It's yeah,

288
00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,840
Speaker 1: it's it's amazing because the doctor said that most likely

289
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:38,960
Speaker 1: my fingers were just going to fall off because they're

290
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,880
Speaker 1: that bad. They were just black, and so to have

291
00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:47,080
Speaker 1: my hands start to recover was amazing. But my feet

292
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,040
Speaker 1: continue to get worse, and so I ended up losing

293
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,600
Speaker 1: both my legs below the knees and having my legs amputated,

294
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,600
Speaker 1: well kind of just above the ankles amputated.

295
00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,800
Speaker 4: It's really beautiful that you can be going through that

296
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:05,000
Speaker 4: experience and still have the frame of mind to say

297
00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,400
Speaker 4: that I'm so thankful I have my hands.

298
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think that's what you know, got me

299
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,680
Speaker 1: through some of my toughest days. There was gratitude because

300
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,160
Speaker 1: it could have been so much worse, and I knew

301
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,600
Speaker 1: it could be worse, like I not only was I

302
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,360
Speaker 1: possibly loosing my hands, but also my nose was really bad,

303
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,280
Speaker 1: Like they had a plastic surgeon come in and show

304
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,000
Speaker 1: me a mirror and say, like, we're going to have

305
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,160
Speaker 1: to reconstruct your nose because it was just black, and

306
00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,160
Speaker 1: so thinking that I was going to lose, you know,

307
00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,040
Speaker 1: part of my face and my hands and my feet.

308
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,800
Speaker 1: By the time I lost my feet, honestly, I thought,

309
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,680
Speaker 1: oh my god, that was a close one, Like I

310
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,680
Speaker 1: only lost my feet, Like, how lucky am I. So

311
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:47,640
Speaker 1: it's all about perspective.

312
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,480
Speaker 4: Right, What was it like for you when you got

313
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,720
Speaker 4: your first set of prosthetics?

314
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,360
Speaker 1: Oh so scary. That's when it got real. So I

315
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,920
Speaker 1: would say when I was in the hospital, I was

316
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,600
Speaker 1: really positive. I stayed really strong, never cried, never shed

317
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:05,960
Speaker 1: a tear.

318
00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,280
Speaker 4: That's unbelievable. I'm like crying almost sitting there.

319
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,200
Speaker 1: And I think part of that was I would have

320
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,640
Speaker 1: never known that I was that strong. But I think

321
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,000
Speaker 1: part of it was I was on survival mode, so

322
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,600
Speaker 1: you set your emotions aside and you're doing whatever you

323
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,520
Speaker 1: got to do to just get through the next day.

324
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,520
Speaker 1: And also everybody around me was crying. Everybody around me

325
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,240
Speaker 1: was heartbroken, and you know, my parents went through so

326
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,240
Speaker 1: much and seeing their daughter lose her legs and they

327
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:34,920
Speaker 1: had no idea what my life was going to be like,

328
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,640
Speaker 1: and I wanted to let them know that everything was

329
00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,000
Speaker 1: going to be okay. Like I felt like I kind

330
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,720
Speaker 1: of needed to be strong for everybody else too, So

331
00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,000
Speaker 1: I think that was part of it, was just but

332
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,400
Speaker 1: also being grateful. Once again, I thought, oh my god,

333
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,240
Speaker 1: I almost died. I'm so grateful. Okay, I can handle this.

334
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,640
Speaker 1: And at one point I remember thinking, well, this happened

335
00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,600
Speaker 1: to the right person because I know I can handle it,

336
00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,800
Speaker 1: which is crazy. I didn't even know what I was

337
00:16:58,840 --> 00:16:59,360
Speaker 1: dealing with.

338
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:00,120
Speaker 3: What's that saying.

339
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,040
Speaker 4: It's like God only gives the tough stuff to the

340
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:03,480
Speaker 4: people he knows that can handle it.

341
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:09,840
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I mean that's that's That's how I felt,

342
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:15,040
Speaker 1: Not that it was easy, not that I wasn't completely scared,

343
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,800
Speaker 1: but I think I had. I was forced to be

344
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:19,879
Speaker 1: in the moment, and when you're in the moment, you

345
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,320
Speaker 1: can't you don't have anxiety about the future. You're just

346
00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,399
Speaker 1: trying to get through a moment to moment. So that

347
00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,280
Speaker 1: helped me definitely emotionally. So the doctors come in with

348
00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,120
Speaker 1: some legs, well, so I did see some prosthetic legs.

349
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,280
Speaker 1: When I was in the hospital, right before they amputated

350
00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,520
Speaker 1: my legs, a prostatist came in to introduce himself, and

351
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,760
Speaker 1: he was this young surfer guy. He had lost his

352
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,960
Speaker 1: leg above the knee and a motorcycle accident. So it

353
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,800
Speaker 1: was nice they sent me this like young active guy

354
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,560
Speaker 1: so that I could see that life goes on. And

355
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,879
Speaker 1: he brought all these different legs and was trying to

356
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:59,120
Speaker 1: show me what, you know, prosthetics look like. And yeah,

357
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,160
Speaker 1: I mean I so I had seen them, and then

358
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,840
Speaker 1: basically I didn't get fit for my legs until after

359
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,480
Speaker 1: I left the hospital. So I was in the hospital

360
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:10,000
Speaker 1: for about two and a half months and then I

361
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,720
Speaker 1: i'd stay. Within the next like week or two, I

362
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,560
Speaker 1: was getting fit for my prosthetics. And then I stood

363
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,280
Speaker 1: up in my legs for the first time and talk

364
00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,960
Speaker 1: to me about that. Yeah, they're so well. First of all,

365
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,960
Speaker 1: when he walked them in the room, I was devastated

366
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,440
Speaker 1: because I didn't know what I was expecting. I thought, Okay,

367
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:31,439
Speaker 1: I'm going to get my legs and go like thanks.

368
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,240
Speaker 1: So yeah, and he walked in with these legs that

369
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,639
Speaker 1: were just you know, pipes bolted together and these really

370
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,720
Speaker 1: bulky sockets, which is like the part that you it's

371
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,920
Speaker 1: customized around your limb. Yeah, and I just thought there's

372
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:47,919
Speaker 1: no way those could be my legs. Like as he

373
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,359
Speaker 1: was walking towards me, I'm like, you got to be

374
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,960
Speaker 1: kidding me, like these rubber feet, and the feet were

375
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,640
Speaker 1: like this yellow rubber foot, and I just thought, oh

376
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,080
Speaker 1: my god, like these have to be temporary. There's no

377
00:18:57,119 --> 00:18:58,719
Speaker 1: way that my legs are going to look like that

378
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,080
Speaker 1: the rest of my life. But so that was a

379
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,040
Speaker 1: lot to wrap my head around. And then putting them

380
00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,000
Speaker 1: on for the first time, they were so painful and

381
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:13,040
Speaker 1: so like confining. I felt claustrophobic because you know your

382
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,240
Speaker 1: calves and like basically I have ten inches below the

383
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,920
Speaker 1: knee and so that's where like they create the socket

384
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,280
Speaker 1: that you step into and lock in. And but like

385
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,159
Speaker 1: your calves and stuff aren't used to being confined like

386
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,840
Speaker 1: that in carbon fiber, and I just thought, oh my god,

387
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,000
Speaker 1: this is going to be so hot. And not only that,

388
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,040
Speaker 1: so you kind of lock into the legs and then

389
00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,240
Speaker 1: you have to pull this like heavy sleeve over your

390
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,919
Speaker 1: knees and then if your legs don't fit right, you

391
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,760
Speaker 1: have to put these wool socks on, and I'm living

392
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:44,919
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas. I'm like, oh my god, this is

393
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,359
Speaker 1: going to be the hottest, you know thing ever. And Yeah,

394
00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:51,600
Speaker 1: when I stood up, I just thought, there's no way

395
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,159
Speaker 1: I'm going to be able to travel and snowboard and

396
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:56,600
Speaker 1: do all the things that I wanted to do.

397
00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,239
Speaker 4: Talk to me a little bit about snowboarding, because I

398
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,760
Speaker 4: feel like that must have been something that was kind

399
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,600
Speaker 4: of on your mind from the second they were like,

400
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,919
Speaker 4: we aren't going to be able to keep your legs.

401
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was on my mind absolutely from that moment on.

402
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,200
Speaker 1: For sure. When I go back into my medical records,

403
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:19,000
Speaker 1: pretty much every day, I'm asking the doctors about snowboarding, Right,

404
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,000
Speaker 1: so when can I snowboard again? Have you seen some

405
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:22,879
Speaker 1: of the two prosthetic legs snowboards? So what do you

406
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: think about snowboarding.

407
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,560
Speaker 4: And what was the climate of the sport at that time?

408
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:28,359
Speaker 4: Was anyone with prosthetic snowboarding?

409
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 1: No? And actually it was very new. It was very

410
00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,200
Speaker 1: new because there wasn't even a big female competitive space.

411
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,119
Speaker 1: There were some I looked up to, some amazing women

412
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,199
Speaker 1: like Barrett Christie was like my idol, and snowboarding but

413
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,199
Speaker 1: it was very, very small just for women in the

414
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,320
Speaker 1: first place, let alone for someone with a disability. So I,

415
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 1: you know, I'd never even seen anybody with a prosthetic leg,

416
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,840
Speaker 1: let alone snowboarding with a prosthetic leg. So I really

417
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,280
Speaker 1: had to kind of figure it out myself. But I

418
00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 1: think the challenge of that of wanting to snowboard again

419
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,400
Speaker 1: and trying to find a way is what it kept

420
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 1: me moving forward. And when I was in the hospital,

421
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,919
Speaker 1: actually when they wheeled me into the surgical room to

422
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,240
Speaker 1: amputate my legs, I was so scared, had no idea

423
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: what my life was going to be like, could not

424
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,200
Speaker 1: wrap my head around what I was going to be

425
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 1: dealing with. But I gave myself three goals, and one

426
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,879
Speaker 1: of them was that I had never missed a season

427
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,199
Speaker 1: of snowboarding, so I wasn't going to miss that season,

428
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,960
Speaker 1: so I just I knew that I would snowboard that

429
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,439
Speaker 1: year and try to figure it out. And then another

430
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 1: goal was that when I figured all this out, I

431
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 1: wanted to help other people. And the other one was

432
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 1: that I wasn't going to feel sorry for myself, that

433
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,280
Speaker 1: no matter how things go, how bad things get, that

434
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 1: I wasn't a victim, and I wasn't going to feel

435
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: sorry for myself, and so setting those goals really helped

436
00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,320
Speaker 1: me that way. When I woke up and my legs

437
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,760
Speaker 1: were gone, you know, I still had these goals that

438
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,840
Speaker 1: i'd set to move forward, and so snowboarding was one

439
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 1: of them. And I started doing a ton of research

440
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 1: when I got home from the hospital. The Internet was

441
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 1: brand new at that time, kind of because we're talking

442
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 1: like maybe eighteen years ago, and so I started, you know,

443
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,399
Speaker 1: just kind of googling, which I don't even know if

444
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 1: it was Google at that time, but typing in like

445
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 1: amputee snowboarder, snowboarder with prosthetic legs, disabled snowboarder, like trying

446
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:28,919
Speaker 1: to figure out what kind of feet were out there,

447
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 1: because I knew I needed a special type of foot

448
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 1: because the feet that I was walking and had zero

449
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: movement at all. And with snowboarding you actually use your

450
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,399
Speaker 1: ankles and all the little bones and balancing, you know,

451
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 1: parts of your feet so much. And I couldn't find anything.

452
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,639
Speaker 1: I ended up trying to snowboard and just the feet

453
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 1: that I had, and it was disastrous, Like my ankles

454
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 1: went to bend and I fell and at one point

455
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,639
Speaker 1: my legs came off, and there was just all these hurdles.

456
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 1: You know that you have to just try it to

457
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,159
Speaker 1: figure out what it's going to be like.

458
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 4: And were you just putting your prosthetic legs into traditional

459
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 4: boots and bindings.

460
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I just put my normal boots on my

461
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,840
Speaker 1: normal board, my normal setup. You know, at that point,

462
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 1: wouldn't have had any idea of how to customize anything

463
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,399
Speaker 1: because I hadn't even tried it yet. So I really

464
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:25,480
Speaker 1: just needed to start somewhere. And that's actually a good

465
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,919
Speaker 1: message that I try to get across at some points

466
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,120
Speaker 1: as well. It's just like, you got to start somewhere, right,

467
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 1: You have to like just begin even if everything's wrong,

468
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:34,960
Speaker 1: then you can figure out what to do to make

469
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,119
Speaker 1: it right. So yeah, so I just went up with

470
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,200
Speaker 1: my sister and a friend, and I remember walking in

471
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 1: my snowboard boots and it felt so weird, and just

472
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: every bit of it felt so born. And I think

473
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 1: when I got in the chair lift and going up

474
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,760
Speaker 1: to snowboard for the very first time is when fear

475
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,439
Speaker 1: set in for the first time of what if I

476
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: can't do this? Like what if I am going to

477
00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,639
Speaker 1: find out in the next five minutes that this is

478
00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:05,439
Speaker 1: based impossible. And that's pretty much what happened, because you know,

479
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: it was just kind of disastrous. My ankles didn't bend,

480
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:14,159
Speaker 1: my legs didn't stay on. It was painful, but it

481
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,720
Speaker 1: also gave me something to work with where I thought, Okay,

482
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 1: if I if I can figure out a way to

483
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 1: keep these legs attached, but I can figure out the

484
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: right ankles or feet that move in the way that

485
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:26,320
Speaker 1: I need to, then I can do this again.

486
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,120
Speaker 4: And were you seeking out specialists in this and prosthetics

487
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:32,480
Speaker 4: to help you accomplish this?

488
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 1: So when I went home from snowboarding that day, that's

489
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: I started doing research and calling every adaptive ski school

490
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: asking them if they've ever worked with an ampute snowboarder,

491
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,200
Speaker 1: which at that time they said no, and they said

492
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 1: most of the time, if you're a double leg amputee,

493
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 1: we put you in a monoski. And I thought, well,

494
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,159
Speaker 1: I'm not a skier and I want to use my legs.

495
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 1: I don't want to take my legs off and sit

496
00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: in a monoski like I want a snowboard, and it

497
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 1: said that was the answer that I got constantly was like, no,

498
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 1: we've we've never worked with an ampute snowboarder before. And

499
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 1: so then I started calling leg manufacturers and asking them

500
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,760
Speaker 1: and you know, just whatever I could do. And my

501
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 1: kind of I guess breakthrough was my brother in law

502
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 1: had seen this guy on There used to be this

503
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 1: kind of action sport TV show or a TV channel

504
00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 1: called Blue Torch. You remember Blue Torch was like all

505
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 1: action sports space. Well, my brother in law was watching

506
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 1: that and saw this guy snowboarding and then at the

507
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,679
Speaker 1: bottom of the run he pulled his pant leg up

508
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,320
Speaker 1: and he had a prosthetic leg, and so he videotaped

509
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,640
Speaker 1: this and sent it to me and I watched it,

510
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 1: and as soon as I got finished watching it, I

511
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 1: googled Blue Torch TV and there was a phone number

512
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 1: and I called and the first guy who answered, I

513
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,679
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, you guys just aired somebody who has

514
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: a prosthetic leg and snowboarded. Do you know what his

515
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 1: name is or do you know what kind of leg uses?

516
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,440
Speaker 1: And the guy who answered, he said, Oh, that's Stain Maller.

517
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: That's my best friend. So here's his phone number, and

518
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 1: so I called him. Like so within minutes of seeing him.

519
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,040
Speaker 1: I called him and I was like, Hi, my name

520
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,439
Speaker 1: Sammy Purdy, and I had two prosthetic legs and I

521
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,920
Speaker 1: saw you snowboard and all I want to know is

522
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 1: what kind of legs you used? And he ended up

523
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: hooking me up with this company who I ended up

524
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,760
Speaker 1: sending a letter to as well, like he kind of

525
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,920
Speaker 1: introduced me to the company, and then I sent this letter,

526
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: and in this letter, I said, I don't know if

527
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 1: a double leg amputee can snowboard, but if they can,

528
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:36,120
Speaker 1: I'm going to be the one to figure it out.

529
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 1: So if you give me your feet, then I can

530
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,280
Speaker 1: test this out. And feet are expensive. Prosthetic legs are expensive.

531
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 1: My legs set up is thirty thousand dollars. So to

532
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 1: get a pair of legs just kind of sent to

533
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,320
Speaker 1: you is, you know, a really big deal. And so

534
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 1: those were the first feet that I snowboarded, and they

535
00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:01,640
Speaker 1: they weren't really good. They didn't really work that well

536
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 1: for me. I can see why they work for a

537
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 1: single leg amputee like Fain Maller, but for a double

538
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,480
Speaker 1: it was still very challenging for me to ride in

539
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 1: those feet because they had this kind of spring and

540
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: every time I try to get onto my toe edge,

541
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: it would spring me back, and so I knew at

542
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 1: that point I needed my toe edge to collapse like

543
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 1: and stay there and not spring me back. And so

544
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,919
Speaker 1: then but what his feet allowed me to do is

545
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,640
Speaker 1: meet another well, meet another snowboarder who had a prosthetic leg,

546
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 1: and then go up and play around a little bit

547
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: and do a little bit better than I did before.

548
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,120
Speaker 1: So this baby steps and then I ended up actually

549
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 1: making my own pair of feet to snowboard in at

550
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,960
Speaker 1: that point, because I knew what I needed, and so

551
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: I went to my prosthetic shop and basically told them

552
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: this is you know, this is the flexion that I need,

553
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,760
Speaker 1: and this is how it has to feel. And so

554
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 1: we ended up taking different parts and pieces from other

555
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,440
Speaker 1: legs and just getting really creative, Like we made these

556
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 1: Forinkenstein's feet because there's duct tape, pink duct tape holding

557
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 1: stuff together. And I put these wood wedges under the heels,

558
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,160
Speaker 1: which allowed me to get onto my toes a little

559
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,200
Speaker 1: bit better. We took this ankle from this other company

560
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,359
Speaker 1: and turned it backwards, and I allowed my ankle to

561
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 1: collapse in the way I need it to. And so

562
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: those feet are really what changed the game for me.

563
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,159
Speaker 4: I feel like I would have those feet like in

564
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 4: a case.

565
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: They're actually in the Smithsonian.

566
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no big deal. Yeah there's Smithsonian.

567
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: I know it's kind of crazy. I'm like, I'll never

568
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: get them back, but I've got pictures of them and

569
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:36,160
Speaker 1: you can visit them.

570
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 3: That's outstanding. That's outstanding.

571
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,680
Speaker 4: Okay, So you get some feet that do everything you

572
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 4: need them to do, right for the most part. Right

573
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 4: fast forward and you're snowboarding for a while again, and

574
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 4: you are in a position where you understand that the

575
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 4: Olympics are kind of in your reach.

576
00:28:57,680 --> 00:28:59,680
Speaker 3: Talk to me about how that all kind of unfolded.

577
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's interesting that I didn't think about ever,

578
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 1: you know, being an Olympian until after I lost my legs.

579
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: But also I think too, Snowboarding wasn't a part of

580
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 1: the Olympic Games when I was younger, so it wasn't

581
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 1: something that I really aspired for. And then but I

582
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 1: saw a niche that needed to be filled. I saw

583
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 1: that snowboarding wasn't in the Paralympic Games, and I also

584
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 1: saw that there weren't many people snowboarding with prosthetic legs

585
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 1: and so I would go to different events to try

586
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 1: to meet people different like disabled ski events, and everybody

587
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 1: would be skiing, of course, and I'd be the only snowboarder,

588
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 1: and I wanted to be able to I guess, give

589
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: the option and let people know you can snowboard on

590
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: two prosthetic legs or a prosthetic leg if you want to.

591
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,959
Speaker 1: And so I ended up meeting my husband while I

592
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 1: was on a snowboard trip in press Abute, Colorado, and

593
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 1: he had this background in philanthropy and his mom actually

594
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,920
Speaker 1: helped us start an or organization called Adaptive Action Sports,

595
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 1: and the whole idea was to, you know, we figured

596
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 1: out how to get me involved in the sports that

597
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 1: I loved, and figured out the types of equipment, and

598
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: we wanted to help other people do the same. So

599
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 1: we were a big part of helping this sport grow

600
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,480
Speaker 1: in the first place, like kind of creating this adaptive

601
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 1: snowboard community, because there were people out there around the

602
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 1: world who were snowboarding with a prosthetic leg or two,

603
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,959
Speaker 1: we just weren't connected. So we kind of started it

604
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 1: as this place. The organization we started as this place

605
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: where people could connect and learn about different feet and

606
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: different tips and tricks, and we would create events to

607
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 1: pool all the adaptive snowboarders together and we started getting

608
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 1: snowboarding into different competitions. We got adaptive snowboarding into the

609
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 1: United States of America Snowboard Associations. Yeah like competition. I

610
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: guess you can say they work with all able bodied athletes.

611
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 1: But we created an adaptive snowboard division to that, and

612
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: the idea was just to help grow this community of

613
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 1: adaptive snowboarders. And then my husband was able to get

614
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 1: snowboard adaptive snowboarding into the ESPN Winter X Games and

615
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 1: we ran that, I believe for three years and that

616
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,719
Speaker 1: was a huge platform for us because we were riding

617
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 1: on the biggest snowboard course in the world with all

618
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,240
Speaker 1: the pros and able to show what we were capable

619
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: of and what we were able to do. And then

620
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: we were part of pushing to get snowboarding into the

621
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 1: Paralympic Games. And so that the idea of getting snowboarding

622
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: adaptive snowboarding into the Olympics and Paralympics was an ongoing

623
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,959
Speaker 1: process for quite a few years. Like that was a

624
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 1: goal to get snowboarding into the Paralympic Games. At some point,

625
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:51,239
Speaker 1: and in twenty eleven we found out that we had

626
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 1: done that.

627
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 3: What was that like?

628
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: It was out of the blue, to be honest, because

629
00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,640
Speaker 1: we were turned down so many times, and at one

630
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: point we were we were sure that snowboarding was going

631
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 1: to be in the Paralympics because there were World Cups

632
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 1: that were happening at this point all over the world.

633
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,240
Speaker 1: And at that point too, I was showing up with

634
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 1: other adaptive snowboarders. We didn't have sponsors. We were just

635
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,920
Speaker 1: you know, flying to New Zealand to compete in a

636
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:18,920
Speaker 1: World Cup and flying to France to compete in a

637
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 1: World Cup, just doing this all out of our own pockets,

638
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: without any real support or help. But there was a

639
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: lot of us. And you were supposed to have to

640
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: get snowboarding or any sport into the Olympic Games, you need,

641
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,680
Speaker 1: I believe, eight countries involved. They need to have athletes

642
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,520
Speaker 1: from eight countries, and we had that. So we were

643
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,440
Speaker 1: convinced that we were going to get snowboarding into the Games.

644
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 1: And the next games were in Russia, and so even

645
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,000
Speaker 1: this kind of you know, Russian organizer came out and

646
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 1: we were just waiting for him to tell us that

647
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 1: we got it into the games, and the next morning

648
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,920
Speaker 1: a press release went out that snowboarding wouldn't be in

649
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: the Paralympic Games. And so we all have had our

650
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 1: you know, our hopes up for a bit there, and

651
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,040
Speaker 1: then I'm not sure what happened, because about eight months later,

652
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, we got another press release that

653
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,479
Speaker 1: said snowboarding was in the twenty fourteen Paralympic Games. So

654
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 1: that was crazy, that was exciting. Of course, everybody, all

655
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 1: that adaptive snowboarders were all on the phone with each

656
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 1: other like, oh my god, this is real, like this

657
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: is like now our sport is going to be official.

658
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: And so it only gave us eighteen months to prepare

659
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,600
Speaker 1: for the games. And at that point I was I

660
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 1: was snowboarding competitively, but on a pretty low level, like

661
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't. My feet were great, but not

662
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 1: good enough to really grow as an athlete. I needed

663
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 1: to have different equipment, and I kind of struggled with

664
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: the feed I had made to do what I want

665
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,520
Speaker 1: to do, and so outside, yeah, all of a sudden,

666
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: I felt like I've got to be an Olympic athlete

667
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:56,720
Speaker 1: in eighteen months and ended up just focusing all my

668
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: energy that direction, and literally started training every day and

669
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: built like twenty pounds of muscle and got these new

670
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,919
Speaker 1: feet and just started competing everywhere I could and made

671
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: it to the games and came home with a bronze medal.

672
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 4: And you said, it's so casually, It's like and I

673
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 4: added twenty pounds of muscle. Well, it just happened. I

674
00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,840
Speaker 4: went to k I think, yeah, what do you have

675
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 4: to do beside snowboarding to kind of make those kind

676
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 4: of games?

677
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: So I did a lot of weightlifting because I also

678
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,279
Speaker 1: I'm naturally pretty thin, and having two prosthetic legs, you

679
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:34,120
Speaker 1: burn up to sixty percent more calories than the average person.

680
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 3: Wow. So because you're constantly lifting that extra weight.

681
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 1: Working, yeah, and using other muscles to compensate. So I

682
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 1: was really thin. I mean I was like one hundred

683
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,239
Speaker 1: and five pounds or something. And speed as your friend,

684
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,080
Speaker 1: and the more weight you have, then the faster you

685
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,560
Speaker 1: go on a snowboard. And so I wanted to just

686
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 1: be the strongest that I could be, And all of

687
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,160
Speaker 1: a sudden, sponsors started coming out of nowhere. I got

688
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 1: sponsored by Coca Cola, and gosh, got sponsored by Kellogg's

689
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,800
Speaker 1: and some of the biggest Olympic sponsors chose me to sponsor,

690
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,440
Speaker 1: which was amazing, and all of a sudden, I just realized, well,

691
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,200
Speaker 1: I have all the support in the world to be

692
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,440
Speaker 1: the best that I can be, and I'm going to

693
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 1: use this time to be the best that I can be.

694
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: And so I also though at that time, put a

695
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: lot of pressure on myself because I had been a

696
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:28,239
Speaker 1: face to the sport and now this is our opportunity

697
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,640
Speaker 1: to share it with the world, and I didn't want

698
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:32,600
Speaker 1: to let anybody down.

699
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 3: And so.

700
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: There was just a lot of pressure, Yeah, a lot

701
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:42,480
Speaker 1: of pressure to represent. And also you want the Olympic

702
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 1: and Paralympic Committee to know, like this was a good

703
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,359
Speaker 1: idea of getting the adaptive snowboaring in here, Like we

704
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: know what we're doing, we're pros.

705
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 2: But I think it's really beautiful that you're saying, like

706
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,280
Speaker 2: they chose me, like out of everyone they could have sponsored,

707
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 2: like they chose me. Well, like, take a step back

708
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,120
Speaker 2: and understand that you've been putting in the work. Yeah,

709
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,960
Speaker 2: you know, like it didn't just happen because right out

710
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 2: of the blue, exactly right, So.

711
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,760
Speaker 4: You get on the podium, which must have been outrageous.

712
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 4: And then a few years later you do it again.

713
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. The first time was It's just

714
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:19,919
Speaker 1: really emotional because all these years went into learning to walk,

715
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 1: learning to snowboard, trying to figure my legs, out growing

716
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 1: the community, getting it into the games, and all of

717
00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:29,080
Speaker 1: those emotions kind of came to me as I was

718
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:33,320
Speaker 1: in the stargates for my last run, like, yeah, it

719
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,239
Speaker 1: makes me want to cry, yeah, because it was just

720
00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,880
Speaker 1: like I felt so grateful and like, oh my gosh,

721
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 1: if something doesn't exist, you can create it, you can

722
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,400
Speaker 1: build it, you can make it happen. So I was

723
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 1: just really proud of myself and proud of all the

724
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 1: other athletes involved, and proud of what we built. And

725
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: to try to keep those emotions together when you're competing

726
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,439
Speaker 1: is really hard because yours can kind of break you down,

727
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,560
Speaker 1: and I needed to use them to make me the

728
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: strongest I've ever been, you know.

729
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 4: And it's so beautiful that you have that kind of

730
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 4: inner dialogue with yourself, because I think for a lot

731
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 4: of people during really tough or stressful times, it's easy

732
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:17,239
Speaker 4: to feel overwhelmed.

733
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh absolutely, but I think too when I go

734
00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:27,080
Speaker 1: back to my hospital days, I learned to compartmentalize because

735
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,680
Speaker 1: I had so much going on. I lost my legs,

736
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,839
Speaker 1: lost my kidneys, lost the hearing in my left ear.

737
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:33,880
Speaker 3: That's something we didn't touch on that. It was it

738
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:35,959
Speaker 3: two years after you lost your legs.

739
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,480
Speaker 1: That I had a kidney transfer. Yeah, yeah, i'd say

740
00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,080
Speaker 1: or a year and a half after, and I lost

741
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 1: my kidneys through the whole you know, meningitis process, because yeah,

742
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,240
Speaker 1: my kidneys were hit really hard. And then my dad

743
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,800
Speaker 1: gave me one of his kidneys about a year and

744
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:51,479
Speaker 1: a half after.

745
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 3: That's my twenty first birthday. That's insane. Also that he

746
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 3: was a match for you.

747
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were almost twins as far as matches go,

748
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 1: which is really rare for parent and a child. Usually

749
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 1: you get kind of half the genes from your mom

750
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:06,919
Speaker 1: and half the genes from your dad. But my dad

751
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:09,560
Speaker 1: and I were something like five out of six match

752
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,200
Speaker 1: and a twin and six out of six, so it

753
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 1: was amazing and yeah, so yeah, there's just a lot

754
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:22,160
Speaker 1: of emotion that went into, you know, that last run

755
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:27,239
Speaker 1: that I did, and I'm so grateful I came out

756
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:28,719
Speaker 1: with the bronze medal. I was the only a double

757
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,759
Speaker 1: leg ampeteue competitive writer. You know, I'm running against girls

758
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: who have their legs but have some sort of impairment

759
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,080
Speaker 1: but have their legs or have one prosthetic legs. So

760
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 1: at that time, I was plenty happy to come in with,

761
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,479
Speaker 1: you know, a bronze medal, just making the podium, and

762
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: but it's different that time than it was this time

763
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 1: in Korea. So for so cheap, I put a lot

764
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 1: of pressure on myself to represent and to represent the sport,

765
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:01,000
Speaker 1: and I was quite stressed out because of that, like

766
00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 1: constantly working on my legs and I'm a perfectionist and

767
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 1: they weren't good enough, and I could feel what I

768
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 1: needed my legs to do, but I did not have

769
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:10,719
Speaker 1: the equipment to do it, and so I felt like

770
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,400
Speaker 1: I was just I had this athlete inside of me

771
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:15,880
Speaker 1: that wanted to blossom, but my legs wouldn't let me.

772
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 1: And so that was frustrating for me. Whereas this time

773
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,760
Speaker 1: actually going into the Games, I didn't put that pressure

774
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,520
Speaker 1: on myself. I've gone on to do so much outside

775
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,960
Speaker 1: of snowboarding as well, that for me, snowboarding is just

776
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,800
Speaker 1: one thing that I do. It's not everything. And I

777
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 1: went in with a much more open heart and gave

778
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 1: myself time to work on my legs and took the

779
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 1: pressure completely off and ended up doing better than ever. Really,

780
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 1: so it's kind of amazing how that happens.

781
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:48,280
Speaker 3: It's kind of amazing.

782
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 4: As we both like sit here wiping tears for our face,

783
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,920
Speaker 4: I try to be sensitive for your time. So I'm

784
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 4: gonna ask you two more questions. First question, best advice

785
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,280
Speaker 4: that you have ever been given in your career.

786
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 1: So, outside of snowboarding, I'm a motivational speaker, and that

787
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,960
Speaker 1: is that's a bit more of a career for me

788
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 1: than even snowboarding. I speak year round and the nice

789
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 1: snowboard kind of half of the year, and so I

790
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: think one of the best pieces of advice I was

791
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 1: given was from a speaking coach. I was invited to

792
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,439
Speaker 1: do a TED talk and worked like crazy on this talk.

793
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 1: Worked for three months on the short eight minute talk.

794
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:33,400
Speaker 1: Once again put tons of pressure on myself. And I

795
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,839
Speaker 1: had never really shared my story before, like I'd never

796
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 1: it was so hard for me to say I have

797
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,799
Speaker 1: two prosthetic legs or I lost my legs, like I'd

798
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 1: break down and cry. It was just this weird sensitive

799
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,800
Speaker 1: thing for me. And I remember I was backstage and

800
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:47,680
Speaker 1: I was talking to my speaking coach and I said,

801
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,279
Speaker 1: oh my god, what if I cry? And she's like, well,

802
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:52,759
Speaker 1: if you cry, you're meant to cry, and the rest

803
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,200
Speaker 1: of the audience will cry with you. And it's all

804
00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 1: about being vulnerable, Like the more vulnerable you can be,

805
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 1: the more open we can be with each other, and

806
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,279
Speaker 1: that's where people connect. And so I ended up going

807
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,360
Speaker 1: out and doing this speech and my voice cracked and

808
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:08,799
Speaker 1: I had tears in my eyes and I look in

809
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,560
Speaker 1: the audience and everybody else's crying as well. And that

810
00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 1: speech ended up going viral and it completely changed my life,

811
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 1: and I ended up going into a full international corporate

812
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:24,480
Speaker 1: speaking career, which has changed my life.

813
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,440
Speaker 2: How does it feel to connect? I'm breaking my own

814
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 2: roles because now there's three questions. How does it feel

815
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: to be able to connect with so many, whether it's

816
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 2: young women or young men as well, who have disabilities

817
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 2: of their own, and to be that kind of mentor for.

818
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,680
Speaker 1: That, Yeah, it's amazing. But I think what's even bigger

819
00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:44,480
Speaker 1: than that is the people who reach out to me.

820
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,759
Speaker 1: I'd say fifty percent have disabilities, fifty percent don't have

821
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 1: physical disabilities, but maybe have gone through something in their lives,

822
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,439
Speaker 1: like even a divorce. I mean, people who reach out

823
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:56,919
Speaker 1: to me are like, your story helped me get through

824
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:58,840
Speaker 1: some of the toughest times in my life, whatever that

825
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,359
Speaker 1: might be for them, And so it's amazing I mean.

826
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,279
Speaker 1: And once again going back to being vulnerable, if I

827
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 1: didn't share kind of my deepest, darkest spaces, then I

828
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:11,839
Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to connect with all these people who

829
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,799
Speaker 1: are dealing with similar things. So when it comes to

830
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,840
Speaker 1: speaking or writing my book or even my social media,

831
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 1: for me, I'm constantly trying to, I guess, wipe off

832
00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:28,360
Speaker 1: the shell and the facade and show what's really underneath

833
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:32,120
Speaker 1: and the struggles and the challenges, and give insight on

834
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:34,719
Speaker 1: what one thing or another might be like. And it

835
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:36,279
Speaker 1: may have to do with my legs, or it may

836
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,279
Speaker 1: have to do with some other challenge in my life.

837
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,480
Speaker 1: And that's what's allowed me to connect with so many people.

838
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:42,400
Speaker 3: And be so authentic.

839
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 4: You talk a lot about the pressures that can come

840
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,720
Speaker 4: with being an athlete of your level. What has been

841
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:53,560
Speaker 4: one of the most difficult, what some people might label

842
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:56,880
Speaker 4: as failures that you have encountered that has taught you

843
00:42:57,239 --> 00:42:58,560
Speaker 4: the biggest lesson.

844
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,440
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like with snowboarding, there's constant failures,

845
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:08,759
Speaker 1: like you come and last in a World Cup, where

846
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:11,880
Speaker 1: you just you know, there's I'm not the best in

847
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 1: the world when it comes to snowboarding. I'm really not.

848
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: But I do the best I can with what I have,

849
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,960
Speaker 1: and oftentimes that's what gets me ahead, is just using

850
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 1: everything I have. And so I don't know if I

851
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:26,239
Speaker 1: can say, like, because there's non stop failures, I don't

852
00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:30,719
Speaker 1: think I can really pick one moment that changed my life.

853
00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:34,439
Speaker 1: But I will say that outside of snowboarding, I had

854
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 1: a major missed opportunity that felt like a failure, but

855
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:44,200
Speaker 1: that ultimately, you know, one door closed and another door opened.

856
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,839
Speaker 1: So I had been I've played around a little bit

857
00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:50,919
Speaker 1: with acting before I became a competitive snowboarder. I lived

858
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:53,000
Speaker 1: in la and I was taking acting classes, and so

859
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:55,480
Speaker 1: it's something that's kind of always been a part of

860
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: me of what I've wanted to do. And then let

861
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:01,960
Speaker 1: me think, oh it was before Sochi. It was just

862
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,919
Speaker 1: about six months before so Chi. I got this opportunity

863
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:10,319
Speaker 1: to work with Samuel L. Jackson on this big film

864
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,920
Speaker 1: Casually Yeah, and I was flown out to London and

865
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: worked with Warner Brothers for a month. I was supposed

866
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:19,719
Speaker 1: to go out there just for an audition, ended up

867
00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: staying for an entire month and working with all the

868
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,279
Speaker 1: casts and basically got this role. And this role was

869
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:29,800
Speaker 1: made for me. It was amazing because I was athletic

870
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,279
Speaker 1: and I was fit, and I knew how to use

871
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:34,399
Speaker 1: my legs and I was actually doing a lot of

872
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 1: martial arts on my legs and backflips all this stuff,

873
00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:42,480
Speaker 1: and it all played out really well with this character

874
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 1: that I was supposed to play. And it's called the

875
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,840
Speaker 1: movies called Kingsman, and so there's I think they're on

876
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,960
Speaker 1: the second edition of Kingsmen that have come out. But anyway,

877
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:53,799
Speaker 1: so I got this role and I was like, oh

878
00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:56,360
Speaker 1: my god, this is my big break. I remember flying

879
00:44:56,719 --> 00:45:00,479
Speaker 1: home first class with Champagne and just being like, oh, yeah,

880
00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:03,640
Speaker 1: this is it, Like my life is amazing and it's happened.

881
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: And then I come home, we have these special legs

882
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,560
Speaker 1: made and my bags are packed and I'm supposed to

883
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,239
Speaker 1: go back out to start filming and they let me go.

884
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:20,480
Speaker 1: Oh and it was massive amounts of emotion. I was

885
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 1: so heartbroken and I had no idea, you know what,

886
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:27,960
Speaker 1: I thought, that's it. I lost my big break. I

887
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,400
Speaker 1: can't imagine a better role for me than this like

888
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,640
Speaker 1: athletic role that I was supposed to be in. And

889
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 1: I remember I was at my prosthetic shop and my

890
00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:37,640
Speaker 1: proceetus said, well, it just means that there's something better

891
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:40,240
Speaker 1: around the corner for you, and I thought, yeah, yeah, yeah,

892
00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:42,160
Speaker 1: it thinks, but no, I don't think it's going to

893
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 1: be any bigger than like this massive blockbuster film. But

894
00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 1: there was there was something bigger around the corner for me,

895
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:49,760
Speaker 1: which was Dancing with the Stars.

896
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 4: And I cry every time I see your routine with

897
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:55,960
Speaker 4: Derek Huff.

898
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:58,720
Speaker 3: Oh, oh my god.

899
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,319
Speaker 1: That's it. People cry one on our happy dances, like

900
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,160
Speaker 1: with the Happy you know, our salsa dances. People were like,

901
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:05,960
Speaker 1: oh cry yeah.

902
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,880
Speaker 3: But only Human was like, yeah.

903
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, that one was That one was amazing. And I

904
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:13,960
Speaker 1: had no idea when I went on the show we

905
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,959
Speaker 1: would do something like that, like that, we'd actually dig

906
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: that deep and be that vulnerable and create something that emotional.

907
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:24,960
Speaker 1: I thought I was going on and learning to chosh off,

908
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:27,440
Speaker 1: you know. All of a sudden, it was like I

909
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 1: had to share like once again, kind of the deepest

910
00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 1: parts of my life and it was amazing.

911
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:35,120
Speaker 3: Was it fun to be a beginner again?

912
00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:37,480
Speaker 1: It's something it was, Yeah, it was, but it was

913
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:39,640
Speaker 1: also once again tons of pressure. I mean, you're in

914
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 1: front of millions of people every week. It was like

915
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,440
Speaker 1: doing the Paralympic Games every single week, like you got

916
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 1: one shot, don't mess it up. Everybody's watching. You know,

917
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,799
Speaker 1: if you don't do well, you're out. So there, and

918
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,800
Speaker 1: I put a ton of pressure on myself because I thought,

919
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: I'm I was the first double leaking amputative ever do

920
00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:02,160
Speaker 1: anything like that, into be on network TV doing something

921
00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:06,239
Speaker 1: like that, and I thought, I need to represent what

922
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:09,319
Speaker 1: the possibilities are. And I'm still trying to figure out

923
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 1: week by week what the possibilities are. But I didn't

924
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:15,439
Speaker 1: want to let anybody down. I wanted to be able

925
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:17,960
Speaker 1: to show what's possible. But I didn't even know what

926
00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 1: was possible until I was in it doing it and

927
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:24,600
Speaker 1: had no idea that you know, we'd almost win and

928
00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:26,799
Speaker 1: make it to the end and it would change my

929
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:27,360
Speaker 1: life forever.

930
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:31,359
Speaker 4: Once again, it's nice to have a lot of those

931
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:35,600
Speaker 4: moments throughout our lives. Right, you have one chance to

932
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:40,560
Speaker 4: put one last Instagram into the world before they completely

933
00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:45,279
Speaker 4: shut your social media counts down. You have the opportunity

934
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:47,720
Speaker 4: to say one more thing to all of these people

935
00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:48,520
Speaker 4: that are following you.

936
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:51,800
Speaker 3: What is it that you say to that?

937
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 1: Jeez, I think I would say that you could be

938
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:01,920
Speaker 1: anything you want to be at anytime you want to

939
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:05,040
Speaker 1: be at. There are no rules. It's kind of cliche

940
00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:08,840
Speaker 1: that we're the only ones that put limits on ourselves,

941
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,319
Speaker 1: but we are. It's like anything's possible if you work

942
00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:14,440
Speaker 1: hard enough, if you're passionate enough, and you believe.

943
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:18,759
Speaker 4: I wish beyond wishes that we had so much more

944
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:19,760
Speaker 4: time to sit here today.

945
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for taking a time out every

946
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:23,440
Speaker 3: morning to hang out with me.

947
00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming all the way out here.

948
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:30,120
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, dude, anytime the next time, we'll have to

949
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:33,040
Speaker 4: go do something really active and fun. Please take a

950
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,320
Speaker 4: moment to leave a quick review by clicking the link

951
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,720
Speaker 4: with the description to this episode. We all face multiple

952
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:41,279
Speaker 4: hurdles in life. I want to hear about yours. Reach

953
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:44,160
Speaker 4: out to me at Emily at Hurdle dot us. Connect

954
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:47,520
Speaker 4: with the podcast on Instagram and Twitter at Hurdle Podcast

955
00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:50,120
Speaker 4: and Amy. Why don't you tell me where they can

956
00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:51,360
Speaker 4: find you on social media?

957
00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:56,040
Speaker 1: On social I have the same handle for Twitter, Instagram,

958
00:48:56,040 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 1: and Facebook and it's Amy Purty Girl. Gu Are I

959
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,000
Speaker 1: love that pretty girl?

960
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:07,640
Speaker 4: I'm at Emily Abodi. Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys

961
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:08,120
Speaker 4: next time.