Attitude Is Altitude
Imagine having no arms to
stretch in the morning, to help you scratch that itch, to allow you to wrap
your arms around your loved ones. Imagine having no legs to kick pebbles down
the street, to walk or run, to bicycle or skateboard, or get you from point A
to point B. Then imagine both at once, which is what Nick Vujicic has faced his
whole life. Have you heard something like this before?
Nick Vujicic was born with
no arms and legs-but he doesn’t let the details stop him. The brave 26-year-old
who is mainly a torso –plays football and golf, swims and surfs, despite having
no limbs.
Nick has a small foot on
his left hip which helps him balance and enables him to kick. He uses his one
foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.
‘I call it my chicken
drumstick,’joked Nick, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, but now lives in
Los Angeles. ‘I’d be lost without it.
Due to his faith as an
Evangelical Christian, Nick has chosen to remain a virgin until marriage.
He’s very modest but he
gets marriage proposals from women all the time, said Nick’s friend and
publicist Steve Appel, from Los Angeles.
He would love to get
married and start a family but he’s waiting for the right girl to come along.
Water sports aren’t Nick’s
only thing- he also plays golf with a club tucked under his chin, and is a huge
fan of the English Premier League.
His parents decided not to
send him to a special school- a decision he said was very hard for him, but
which may have been the best decision they could have made for him.
When Nick was born his
father was so shocked that he left the hospital room to vomit. His distraught
mother couldn’t bring herself to hold him until he was four months old.
His disability came
without any medical explanation – a rare occurrence called Phocomelia – and Nick and his parents spent many years asking why
this cruel trick would happen to them. ‘My mother was a nurse and she did
everything right during pregnancy but she still blamed herself, he said.
‘it was so hard for them
but right from the start they did their best to make me independent.
‘My dad put me in the
water at 18 months and gave the courage to learn how to swim.
‘I also got really into
football and skateboarding. Totally love the English Premier League.
Nick’s father was a
computer programmer and accountant and he taught his little son how to type
with his toe at just 6 years old. His mum invented a special plastic device
that meant he could hold a pen and pencil.
Despite the risk of being
bullied, his parents insisted Nick on attending mainstream school. It was the
best decision they could have made for me, adds Nick, who later achieved a degree
in Financial Planning and Real Estate. ‘It was very hard but it gave me
independence.
‘I was deeply depressed
when i was eight years old, he said. ‘I went to my mum crying and told her I
wanted to kill myself.
‘I felt cold and bitter. I
hated God for doing this to me and was terrified of what would happen when my
parents weren’t there to look after me.
‘I could brush my own
teeth with a wall mounted brush and wash
my own hair with pump action soap, but there was so much that was impossible
for me.
At age ten Nick tried to
drown himself in the bath but luckily the attempt was unsuccessful. ‘I felt
there was no purpose when you lack purpose and strength. It is hard to hold on,
he said. But with the help of his religion, friends and family, Nick managed to
pull through to become an international symbol of triumph over adversity.
‘When I was 13, I read a
newspaper article about a disabled man who had managed to achieve
great things and helped others, said Nick.
‘I realised why God had
made us like this – to give hope to others. It was so inspirational to me that
I decided to use my life to encourage other people and give them the courage
that the article had given me.
‘I decided to be thankful
for what I do have. Not get angry about what I don’t.
‘I looked at myself in the
mirror and said. You know what the world is right that I have no arms or legs,
but they’ll never take away the beauty of my eyes. ‘I wanted to concentrate on
something good that I had.
The challenges in our
lives are there to strengthen our convictions. They are not there to run us
over” , said Nick. In 1990 Nick won the Australian Young Citizen of the Year
award for his bravery and perseverance.
‘And once I was in a car
and a girl at traffic lights was looking at me interestingly. She could only
see my head so I decided to do a 360
degree spin in the car seat to freak her out. Her face was like woooooooah what
is going on? She sped off really
quickly.
Nick began travelling the
world and in 2008 he went to Hawaii and met surfing master Bethany Hamilton,
who had her arm bitten off by a shark when she was 12.
‘She was amazing, said
Nick. ‘She taught me how to surf and I was terrified at first, but once I got
up there it felt absolutely fantastic and I caught some waves pretty well. Nick
quickly learned how to do the 360 degree spins on his board – a feat that got
him on the cover of Surfer magazine within 48 hours. ‘No one has ever done that
in the history of surfing, he said. But I have a very low centre of gravity so
I’ve got pretty good balance.
He has visited different
countries all over the world. The football fan is now a motivational speaker
and has travelled over 24 countries speaking to groups of up to 110,000 people.
He moved to Los Angeles
two years ago in 2007 and plans to continue to travel the world.
“If I fail, I try again,
and again, and again. If you fail, are you going to try again? The human spirit
can handle much worse then we realize. It matters how you are going to finish.
Are you going to finish strong?” said Nick
‘I tell people to keep on
getting up when they fall and to always love themselves, ‘he said.
‘
Body structure and looks are inborn. We did not
choose or ‘make’ our body. We need not take pride or feel ashamed of our
looks or body structure. Pride or shame comes from our behaviour. We respect
people, and people, respect us for our skills, behaviour and qualities. |
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