The 2016 Paralympic Games will be held in Rio this year, from September 7th through 18th. Although the last games in 2014 (Winter Games in Sochi, Russia) were the first to receive over 50 hours of US television coverage, the International Paralympic Games themselves date back to the first competition in Rome in 1960.
Jessica Long
Paralympic swimming takes a lot of endurance, experience and strength so when a 12 year old girl brought home 3 gold medals from the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece, the world took notice of her. Jessica Long, now 24, has been capturing gold and breaking world records ever since.
Born in Russia, Jessica was born with fibular hemimelia; she didn’t have fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in her feet. She was given to an orphanage by her birth parents and at 13 months old, Beth and Steve Long from Maryland, adopted her. At 18 months old, her legs were amputated below the knees so she could be fitted for prosthetic legs and learn how to walk. She was up walking 2 weeks post surgery.
Regas Woods – Track & Field Paralympian
Some of you might remember our Inspirations Blog Post in October of 2013, about Regas Woods and Nick Stilwell, co-founders of the Never Say Never Foundation, encouraging disabled youth to overcome adversity and, through adaptive sports, show that anything is possible!
Regas was born with a congenital leg anomaly which didn’t allow his tibia and fibula to develop. Both legs were amputated at the age of two. After the amputation, he was told he would never be able to run, drive a car or even work. His goal: prove them wrong! And he has! Regas “Legz” Woods holds the world record for fastest bilateral above the knee amputee. Last October, he broke the US record in the 200m.
Daniel Ennett
When Daniel Ennett, of Canada, was five years old, he was stricken with meningococcal septicaemia — a combination of Meningitis and Sepsis, a life-threatening complication of infection. It led to the loss of both his arms and legs. Facing and surpassing challenges became his norm.
Now 22 years old, Daniel is a psychology major and sociology minor and the University of Alberta. He chose his curriculum because he likes figuring out the motivations and justifications behind people’s actions.
Sgt. Kirstie Ennis entered the Marine Corps at the age of 17, planning on a 20-year-long career in the armed forces. She knew from the beginning that she wanted to work on helicopters.
Kirstie Ennis – April 2016
Six years later, in June 2012, during her second tour of duty in Afghanistan, she was in a helicopter with her fellow soldiers, going to resupply ammunition, transport soldiers and help those near the mosque overthrown in Musa Qala, Afghanistan. Suddenly they realized something was wrong – a crash was imminent.
The helicopter hit the ground, shattering to pieces. Ennis’ body was shattered too – she tried to stand but her leg couldn’t support her, her mouth was full of blood, the teeth on the right side of her face and her jaw were gone. Because of damage to her brain, she couldn’t be given any pain medication. She was transported by helicopter to a British hospital where a plastic surgeon worked on her. With the objective of getting her strong enough to go back to the US, she underwent almost 40 surgeries in various countries outside of Afghanistan. Her first return to the US was to Washington DC and finally she was transported to a medical center in San Diego.
For the first few months in the hospitals, she couldn’t eat, drink or do anything by herself. Because her brain shook so much when the helicopter went down, Kirstie’s injuries were mental as well as physical – her memory and comprehension abilities were affected. . (source: http://www.people.com/article/kirstie-ennis-marine-veteran-recovery-story)