90 DIVERSEability Magazine www.diverseabilitymagazine.com
cover story
The Fight of Her Life
Born in Las Vegas in 1979, Purdy was just 19 years old when she contracted bacterial meningitis. She was given a two percent chance to survive. She lost both of her legs below the knees, lost both of her kidneys and her spleen (she later received a kidney transplant from her father). Purdy met the challenge head-on, weather- ing unthinkable surgeries and rehab, teaming with medical experts, designing her own prosthetic feet and legs (through trial and error, sometimes with chunks of wood) and never losing sight of her goals. Theres always going to be something preventing you from your goal, whether its a loss of legs or anything else, but youll never be happy if you surrender to circumstances, she said. Purdys immediate goal after her initial diagnosis was to snowboard again. After getting prosthetic legs, she achieved that. It turned out to be the start of big things. Purdy eventually won a bronze medal in snowboarding at the 2014 Paralympics and a silver in 2018. She formed a non-profit orga- nization - Adaptive Action Sports - along with her husband, Daniel Gale, who is also a competitive snowboarder, to get snowboard- ing included in the Paralympics. Adaptive Action Sports, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA, targets those with physical disabilities who want to get involved in action sports (snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing). Their organization, founded in 2005, also trains athletes with physical disabilities to qualify for the U. S. Snowboard Team. Purdy believes part of her mission is helping others with health challenges. It was an evolution from losing my legs, relearning to snowboard, helping others learn to snowboard and finally getting it into the Games. Purdy began snowboarding seven months after she received her prosthetic legs. About a year after her legs were amputated, she inished third in a snowboarding competition at Mammoth Mountain.
On Her Own Two Feet
In 2003, Purdy was recruited by the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) as a spokesperson. At the time, she didnt live far from the CAF headquarters, as she and Daniel had moved back to San Diego to pur- sue surfing. In San Diego, she continued her pre-amputee profession as a massage thera- pist. She also started working for Freedom Innovations, a prosthetic feet manufacturer, as its Amputee Advocate. On top of all that, Purdy has numerous television and film credits. In 2012, Purdy and her now husband Daniel Gale participat- ed on the 21st season of The Amazing Race. After nearly winning the first leg of the race, they were the second team eliminated and inished in 10th place out of 11 teams. In 2014, Purdy was a contestant on Danc- ing with the Stars. Paired with five-time champion Derek Hough, Purdy was the first double amputee contestant to ever appear on the show. Hough was, at the time, fresh from winning his fifth Mirrorball trophy and did not plan on coming back to the show. How- ever, he changed his mind when Purdy joined the show as a contestant. Purdy wowed judges from the get-go, and kept improving. She never received a score lower than 8. She received her first perfect score (40 out of 40) for her eighth dance, the Argentine tango, after having an intense back injury the week prior. She eventually made it the finale, where she finished as a runner-up to Olympic gold medalist Meryl Davis. In 2015, Purdy was featured in a Super Bowl advertisement for the Toyota Camry. The ad showed Purdy snowboarding, dancing and adjusting her prosthetic legs to a voiceover of Muhammad Alis How Great I Am speech. Purdy has penned a memoir titled, On My Own Two Feet: From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life (HarperCollins), created a podcast (Bouncing Forward) and carved out a lucrative and inspirational career as a motivational speaker. Among her accolades, along with two Paralympic medals, are being named one of ESPNWs Impact 25 and one of Oprahs SuperSoul 100 visionaries and influential leaders. Purdy says that healing is never a linear
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