Ann Purdy – The Face (& Feet) of Persistence

After losing both feet to bacterial meningitis at age 19, Ann Purdy set some goals. It wasn’t enough to re-learn to walk. She wanted to walk at her sister’s wedding, a scant month in the future.  She wanted to resume her favorite sport:  snowboarding.

It wasn’t easy or pleasant. Her first set of prostheses were painful and difficult to manoeuver. Somehow, through force of will, she managed to walk down the aisle at her sister’s wedding.

Within seven months, she went snowboarding.  She almost lost her prostheses on the chair lift up the ski hill — and she did loose them on the way down in what may be the most epic ‘yard sale’ wipeout of all time.

Yet fast forward five months and she was competing in a snowboard competition…in which she placed third.

She continued to train and hone her snowboarding skills such that she won a Bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014. She also co-founded a non-profit, Adapting Action Sports,  to help people with disabilities pursue activities such as snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing.

During the same week she competed in Sochi, she began performing on Dancing with the Stars. She hadn’t ever had dance lessons so her goal was to stay on the show for a week or two. Each week, she would try out different feet to see which would work for which dances — running blades or swimming prostheses or feet shaped as if they were already on heels.

Amy exceeded her expectations by staying on the show til the end — performing in the Finals and placing second behind ice dancer Meryl Davis.

These days, she’s a sought after motivational speaker, model, and spokesperson.

Here she is, featured in a Superbowl commercial:

So the next time you feel like giving up on something, consider what people like Amy Purdy have overcome to accomplish their goals.

****

****