Physically Challenged Athletes - No Limits

I cannot imagine there being a worse feeling in the world than being an outgoing athlete who loses the use of any of their limbs. Football players losing the use of their legs, or swimmers losing the use of their arms. What goes through the mind of an athlete who has this occurrence happened to them? I can only think back to high school and spraining my ankle during basketball season, not having the ability to walk on one of my legs was gruesome. I cannot imagine not being able to have the use of that leg for the rest of my life, the mental toughness to go through a situation as such must be tremendous. Yet, there are still those physically challenged athletes that have the motivation and drive to go out and remain as physically active as possible. Whether it be an individual who has lost the use of their legs, so they work out their arms, or vice-versa. It is truly inspirational for me to witness such a feat. There is no obstacle too large for these physically challenged athletes to overcome.

A famous case of an athlete losing a limb to a tragic event is female surfer Bethany Hamilton. Her parents were both very pristine surfers and had Bethany on a surfboard since she was a toddler. Since age 7, she was surfing on her own and truly fell in love with the sport. However, on October 31, 2003, Bethany was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark who severed her left arm all the way up to the top of the humerus. Even after losing 60% of her blood, Bethany survived the attack and was very hopeful for the possibility of getting back in the water. That possibility became a reality shortly after the incident, and by a month, Bethany was able to paddle a long board with the use of only her one arm.

Bethany continued to progress at her ability to paddle with only one arm and by January 2004, she was back on her short board, paddling out to the incredible waves of Hawaii. For those who surf, and know of the challenge of paddling a surfboard with two arms, imagine having only the use of one. She re-entered competition, and in the first one back she was able to place 5th. She refused any special treatment that was being given to her by the NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) during competition. She didn't want to be treated differently then any of the other surfers in the competition. The courage, mental toughness, and motivation of this young woman is truly inspirational to me and I do not believe I would be able to make the same transitions she was forced to make after that shark attack in 2003. Just one story of a physically challenged athlete who continues to make it all work despite her physical impairment.

Tony P Nuñez