If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go? That's the question that changed my life forever. Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free. I would daydream about traveling the world, living in a place where it snowed, and I would picture all of the stories that I would go on to tell.
Kad bi vaš život bio knjiga, a vi njen autor, kako biste željeli da se vaša priča razvija? To je pitanje koje mi je zauvijek promijenilo život. Odrastajući u vrućoj pustinji Las Vegasa, sve što sam željela je da budem slobodna. Sanjarila bih o putovanjima po svijetu, da živim u mjestu gdje sniježi, i zamišljala bih sve te priče koje bih u budućnosti ispričala.
At the age of 19, the day after I graduated high school, I moved to a place where it snowed and I became a massage therapist. With this job all I needed were my hands and my massage table by my side and I could go anywhere. For the first time in my life, I felt free, independent and completely in control of my life. That is, until my life took a detour. I went home from work early one day with what I thought was the flu, and less than 24 hours later I was in the hospital on life support with less than a two percent chance of living. It wasn't until days later as I lay in a coma that the doctors diagnosed me with bacterial meningitis, a vaccine-preventable blood infection. Over the course of two and a half months I lost my spleen, my kidneys, the hearing in my left ear and both of my legs below the knee.
Kad sam imala 19 godina, dan nakon što sam završila srednju školu, zaista sam se preselila na mjesto gdje sniježi i postala sam maser-terapeut. Sve što mi je bilo potrebno u ovom poslu bile su moje ruke i stol za masažu pri ruci i mogla sam se uputiti bilo gdje. Prvi put u živoru osjećala sam se slobodno, samostalno i kao da u potpunosti kontroliram svoj život. To jest sve dok moj život nije naglo skrenuo s pravog puta. Jednog dana otišla sam ranije s posla kući, s nečim za što sam mislila da je obična gripa, i manje od 24 sata kasnije našla sam se u bolnici, na aparatima koji su me održavali na životu, sa manje od 2% šanse za preživljavanje. Tek nekoliko dana kasnije dok sam ležala u komi, doktori su mi dijagnostiicirali bakterijski meningitis, krvna infekcija koja se mogla izbjeći cijepljenjem. Tijekom sljedeća dva i pol mjeseca izgubila sam slezenu, bubrege, osjetilo sluha u lijevom uhu i obje noge ispod koljena.
When my parents wheeled me out of the hospital I felt like I had been pieced back together like a patchwork doll. I thought the worst was over until weeks later when I saw my new legs for the first time. The calves were bulky blocks of metal with pipes bolted together for the ankles and a yellow rubber foot with a raised rubber line from the toe to the ankle to look like a vein. I didn't know what to expect, but I wasn't expecting that.
Kad su me roditelji izveli iz bolnice u kolicima osjećala sam se kao da su me skrpali poput nekakve krpene lutke sastavljene od raznih komada tkanine. Mislila sam da je najgore iza mene sve dok tjednima kasnije nisam ugledala svoje noge po prvi put. Listovi su bili glomazni blokovi metala sa cijevima spojenim vijcima koje su služile kao zglobovi, i žuto gumeno stopalo s podignutom gumenom linijom od prsta do zgloba kako bi izgledala kao vena. Nisam znala što očekivati, ali nisam očekivala to.
With my mom by my side and tears streaming down our faces, I strapped on these chunky legs and I stood up. They were so painful and so confining that all I could think was, how am I ever going to travel the world in these things? How was I ever going to live the life full of adventure and stories, as I always wanted? And how was I going to snowboard again?
Uz mamu i uz suze koje su se slijevale niz naša lica, privezala sam te zdepaste noge i ustala . Toliko su mi nanosile bol i toliko su me sputavale da je jedino o čemu sam mogla razmišljati bilo to kako ću ikada moći putovati svijetom u ovome? Kako ću ikada moći živjeti život pun pustolovina i priča koji sam oduvijek željela? I kako ću ponovno snowboardati?
That day, I went home, I crawled into bed and this is what my life looked like for the next few months: me passed out, escaping from reality, with my legs resting by my side. I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken.
Tog dana otišla sam kući, uvukla se u krevet i tako je moj život izgledao nekoliko narednih mjeseci: u nesvjestici, u bijegu od stvarnosti, uz noge odložene pokraj mene. Bila sam fizički i emocionalno potpuno slomljena.
But I knew that in order to move forward, I had to let go of the old Amy and learn to embrace the new Amy. And that is when it dawned on me that I didn't have to be five-foot-five anymore. I could be as tall as I wanted! (Laughter) (Applause) Or as short as I wanted, depending on who I was dating. (Laughter) And if I snowboarded again, my feet aren't going to get cold. (Laughter) And best of all, I thought, I can make my feet the size of all the shoes that are on the sales rack. (Laughter) And I did! So there were benefits here.
Ali znala sam, ako želim ići naprijed, moram pustiti staru Amy i naučiti prihvatiti novu Amy. I tada mi je svanulo da više ne moram biti samo 165 cm visoka. Mogu biti visoka koliko želim! (Smijeh) (Pljesak) Ili niska koliko želim, ovisno o tome s kime hodam. (Smijeh) I ako ponovno počnem snowboardati, neće mi biti hladno nogama. (Smijeh) I, mislila sam, što je najbolje od svega, mogu mijenjati veličinu svojih stopala prema veličini cipela koje se nalaze na rasprodaji. (Smijeh) I to sam i napravila! Tako da je bilo i prednosti.
It was this moment that I asked myself that life-defining question: If my life were a book and I were the author, how would I want the story to go? And I began to daydream. I daydreamed like I did as a little girl and I imagined myself walking gracefully, helping other people through my journey and snowboarding again. And I didn't just see myself carving down a mountain of powder, I could actually feel it. I could feel the wind against my face and the beat of my racing heart as if it were happening in that very moment. And that is when a new chapter in my life began.
Tada sam si postavila pitanje koje mi je odredilo cijeli život: Da je moj život knjiga i da sam ja njen autor, kako bih htjela da se ta priča razvija? I počela sam sanjariti. Sanjarila sam kao onda kad sam bila mala djevojčica i vidjela sam se kako graciozno hodam, kako pomažem drugim ljudima na svom putu i kako ponovno snowboardam. I nisam se vidjela kako se usijecam niz planinu praha, već sam mogla sve uistinu osjetiti. Mogla sam osjetiti vjetar na svom licu i otkucaje svog ubrzanog srca kao da se to događa upravo u tom trenutku. I tada je započelo novo poglavlje u mom životu.
Four months later I was back up on a snowboard, although things didn't go quite as expected: My knees and my ankles wouldn't bend and at one point I traumatized all the skiers on the chair lift when I fell and my legs, still attached to my snowboard — (Laughter) — went flying down the mountain, and I was on top of the mountain still. I was so shocked, I was just as shocked as everybody else, and I was so discouraged, but I knew that if I could find the right pair of feet that I would be able to do this again. And this is when I learned that our borders and our obstacles can only do two things: one, stop us in our tracks or two, force us to get creative.
Četiri mjeseca kasnije bila sam ponovno na snowboardu, iako nije sve išlo kako sam očekivala: Koljena i zglobovi se nisu savijali a jednom sam čak traumatizirala sve skijaše na ski liftu kada sam pala i kada su moje noge još uvijek zakačene za snowboard — (Smijeh) — nastavile letjeti niz planinu dok sam ja još uvijek bila na vrhu planine. Bila sam toliko šokirana, bila sam šokirana poput svih ostalih, i bila sam potpuno obeshrabrena, ali znala sam da ću, ako nađem pravi par stopala, biti u stanju sve to ponovno raditi. I tada sam naučila da nam naše granice i naše prepreke mogu učiniti samo dvije stvari: jedan, zaustaviti nas na našem putu ili dva, prisiliti nas da postanemo kreativni.
I did a year of research, still couldn't figure out what kind of legs to use, couldn't find any resources that could help me. So I decided to make a pair myself. My leg maker and I put random parts together and we made a pair of feet that I could snowboard in. As you can see, rusted bolts, rubber, wood and neon pink duct tape. And yes, I can change my toenail polish. It was these legs and the best 21st birthday gift I could ever receive — a new kidney from my dad — that allowed me to follow my dreams again. I started snowboarding, then I went back to work, then I went back to school.
Godinu dana sam istraživala i nisam mogla dokučiti kakvu vrstu nogu koristiti, nisam mogla pronaći izvore koji bi mi mogli pomoći. Pa sam odlučila sama napraviti par nogu. Moj prostetičar i ja smo nasumično sastavljali dijelove i napravili par nogu s kojim sam mogla snowboardati. Kao što možete vidjeti, zahrđali vijci, guma, drvo i neonsko roza ljepljiva traka. I da, mogu mijenjati lak na nogama. Ove noge i najbolji dar koji sam mogla dobiti za 21. rođendan — novi bubreg od oca — omogućili su mi da ponovno slijedim svoje snove. Počela sam snowboardati, vratila sam se na posao, vratila sam se u školu.
Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization for youth and young adults with physical disabilities so they could get involved with action sports. From there, I had the opportunity to go to South Africa, where I helped to put shoes on thousands of children's feet so they could attend school.
Onda sam 2005. godine suosnovala neprofitnu organizaciju za mladež i mlađe odrasle osobe s fizičkim invaliditetom kako bi se oni mogli baviti ekstremnim sportovima. Otada sam imala priliku ići u Južnu Afriku, gdje sam pomogla obuti tisuće dječjih nožica kako bi djeca mogla pohađati školu.
And just this past February, I won two back-to-back World Cup gold medals — (Applause) — which made me the highest ranked adaptive female snowboarder in the world.
I baš prošlu veljaču sam osvojila dvije uzastopne zlatne medalje na Svjetskom prvenstvu — (Pljesak) — i tako sam postala najbolje rangirana snowboarderica s invaliditetom na svijetu.
Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs, I had no idea what to expect. But if you ask me today, if I would ever want to change my situation, I would have to say no. Because my legs haven't disabled me, if anything they've enabled me. They've forced me to rely on my imagination and to believe in the possibilities, and that's why I believe that our imaginations can be used as tools for breaking through borders, because in our minds, we can do anything and we can be anything.
Prije jedanaest godina, kada sam izgubila obje noge, nisam znala što očekivati. Ali kada biste me pitali danas, da li bih ikada htjela promijeniti svoju situaciju, rekla bih ne. Jer me moje noge nisu onesposobile, već su me osposobile. Prisilile su me da se oslanjam na svoju maštu i da vjerujem u mogućnosti, i zato vjerujem da se naša mašta može koristiti kao alat za probijanje granica, jer u svojim glavama možemo učiniti sve i možemo biti sve.
It's believing in those dreams and facing our fears head-on that allows us to live our lives beyond our limits. And although today is about innovation without borders, I have to say that in my life, innovation has only been possible because of my borders. I've learned that borders are where the actual ends, but also where the imagination and the story begins.
Upravo vjera u te snove i izravno suočavanje s našim strahovima omogućava nam da živimo svoje živote preko naših ograničenja. I iako je današnjica obilježena inovacijom bez granica, moram reći da je u mom životu inovacija bila moguća upravo zbog mojih granica. Naučila sam da su granice mjesta gdje 'stvarno' završava ali gdje mašta i priča počinju.
So the thought that I would like to challenge you with today is that maybe instead of looking at our challenges and our limitations as something negative or bad, we can begin to look at them as blessings, magnificent gifts that can be used to ignite our imaginations and help us go further than we ever knew we could go. It's not about breaking down borders. It's about pushing off of them and seeing what amazing places they might bring us. Thank you.
I misao kojom bih vas htjela potaknuti na razmišljanje danas jest ta da umjesto na svoje izazove i svoja ograničenja gledamo kao na nešto negativno ili loše, možemo početi gledati na njih kao na blagoslov, veličanstvene darove koji se mogu koristiti da zapale našu maštu i pomognu nam da odemo dalje nego što smo ikada znali da možemo ići. Tu se ne radi o rušenju granica. Radi se o odguravanju o te granice i uviđavanju koja nam sva predivna mjesta one mogu donijeti. Hvala.