Stephanie, Bannister and I went over to Burton Snowboards for a women's "networking event" this evening. What started off as mini cupcakes and cider mimosa's soon turned into a pretty inspiring evening. This girl with messy brown hair was sitting in a large comfy chair in the middle of the room-participants were sitting all around her. I didn't know much about the guest speaker but, she started off by saying she was totally out of it. She had taken a red eye from Utah and arrived at noon after having taken a benadryl. She had some coffee and then a drink before doing this talk. Hmm...
She moved on to share a story about who she sat next to on her flight last night. Some bizillionaire from the TV show Jersey Shore. They talked for 3 hours or so over twizzlers. He explained how he became a bizillionaire. He said one thing to Amy that was kind of meaningful. He said he was no happier now than he was before the fame/money. Now he's got everything. He doesn't dream. There you go. How wonderful is it that we still have our dreams?!?!
Amy started sharing her story. How one day she was on top of the world, living a happy and healthy life doing what she loved-massage at the Bellagio in Vegas. The next day after having what she thought was a 24-hour flu, she was near death. She felt sick and spiked a fever. Hours later she felt exhausted and could barely move. Her cousin came to check in on her. When she arrived she saw that Amy's feet, hands and face were entirely purple. She was in septic shock. Her organs failed. She went into a coma and went into emergency surgery.
Tonight she explained how she heard and saw what was going on around her before surgery despite being in a coma. The doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival. They spoke to Amy before surgery and said, "Amy, if you believe in anything, think about it now...hard." She heard this. She wasn't religious but, she thought about what she believed.
Love. She hadn't loved yet. She wasn't ready to go. Jesus. If that didn't get everyone...
She explained how she knew she was dying and felt her last heartbeat. She fought death. This changed her life forever. She believes she chose to stay. To be alive. To live.
Although Amy lost both legs from the knee's down, she is the thriving! She snowboards, skateboards and travels the world sharing her story. She started a non-profit called Adaptive Action Sports. She is also working with a small team to build a prosthetic foot that is engineered for board sports. There isn't one yet. Hers is currently made of wood, bolts and duck tape.
She had lots of inspiring words for the group this evening including this: View your obstacles as something to push off from, not something to overcome. You truly become disabled when you choose not to overcome your obstacles.
Awesome.
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