Assorted Missing Limbs: 4 Inspiring Stories

The 4 people mentioned below have had to overcome more than most in their lives. Yet the way they have succeeded in spite of this is quite remarkable. They’ve done far more than most people!

The thing that really stands out to me after learning about them is their lack of self pity. None of them are dwelling on the difficulties they face. They have accepted them and just carried on.

Not only that, they are using the difficulties they face as a way to inspire people. So instead of 4 sad stories we have 4 individuals who have probably inspired millions all around the world. I really like that way they have turned it around. So here they are:

Jessica Cox

Jessica can text, play the piano, type 25 words per minute and put her contact lenses in with her feet. She has a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Up until the age of 22 she’d never been in a plane due to a fear of flying. She decided to overcome this fear and within a few years she had a pilot’s licence. She was born without arms.

Nick Vujicic

Nick struggled with bullying, low self-esteem and depression in his teenage years. He now has a university degree, is president of an international non-profit organisation and in 2005 was nominated for the “Young Australian of the Year” Award. He was born without arms or legs. Warning: this one does contain some pretty cheesy music :)

Brett Eastburn

Brett has played baseball, football and basketball. In the 1988 wrestling competition under the Amater Athletic Union, Brett placed 4th in the US. He is known as “The Stub” because he was born with a right arm stub that goes to just above where an elbow would be, a left arm stub only a couple of inches long, a left leg stub that goes almost to where a knee would be and virtually no leg on his right side.

Tony Christiansen

Tony started racing in a Go Kart his father had built for him at the age of 12 years old. This was the beginning of a life long passion. Like Jessica above he also has a pilot’s license and a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Unlike Jessica however, he does have arms. But he doesn’t have legs. He lost them in a railway accident at the age of 9. He is now aiming to become the world’s fastest amputee by setting a world record at Bonneville salt flats in Utah.

If you like these you might also like to read about the Tetraplegic Farmer.

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