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.
Kada bi vaš život bio knjiga a vi autor, kako biste želeli da se priča odvija? To je pitanje koje je zauvek promenilo moj život. Odrastajući u vreloj pustinji Las Vegasa, sve što sam želela je da budem slobodna. Sanjarila sam o proputovanju sveta, životu na mestu gde pada sneg, i zamišljala bih sve priče koje bih nastavila da pričam.
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.
U 19. godini, dana nakon što sam završila srednju školu, preselila sam se u mesto gde je padao sneg i postala sam fizioterapeut. Sve što mi je trebalo na ovom poslu bile su moje ruke i sto za masažu pri ruci i mogla sam da idem bilo kuda. Prvi put u svom životu, osećala sam se slobodno, nezavisno i potpuno u kontroli nad svojim životom. To jest, dok se u mom životu nije dogodio preokret. Išla sam ranije kući sa posla jednog dana sa nečim za šta sam mislila da je grip, i manje od 24 sata kasnije bila sam u bolnici na aparatima sa manje od dva procenta šanse za preživljavanje. Tek danima kasnije, dok sam ležala u komi, doktori su mi dijagnostikovali bakterijski meningitis, infekciju krvi koja se može sprečiti vakcinacijom. Za dva i po meseca izgubila sam svoju slezinu, bubrege, sluh na levom uhu i obe noge ispod kolena.
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.
Kada su me roditelji izveli iz bolnice u kolicima, osećala sam se kao da sam ponovo skrpljena kao krpena lutka. Mislila sam da je najgore prošlo dok nisam nedeljama kasnije videla svoje nove noge prvi put. Listovi su bili glomazni blokovi metala sa cevima pričvršćenim za članke i žuto gumeno stopalo sa podignutom gumenom linijom od prsta do članka da izgleda kao vena. Nisam znala šta da očekujem, ali to nisam očekivala.
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?
Sa mamom pokraj mene i suzama koje su se slivale sa naših lica, privezala sam te kabaste noge i ustala sam. Bile su tako bolne i tako sputavajuće da je jedino o čemu sam mogla da razmišljam bilo kako ću ikada moći da putujem svetom u ovim stvarima? Kako ću ikada moći da živim život pun avantura i priča, kakav sam oduvek želela? I kako ću moći da ponovo vozim snoubord?
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 ovako je moj život izgledao narednih nekoliko meseci: ja onesvešćena, bežeći od stvarnosti, sa nogama odloženim kraj mene. Bila sam apsolutno fizički i emotivno 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 sam znala, da bih nastavila dalje, morala sam da pustim staru Ejmi i da naučim da prigrlim novu Ejmi. I tada mi je sinulo da ne moram više da imam 165 cm. Mogu da budem visoka koliko želim! (Smeh) (Aplauz) Ili niska onoliko koliko želim, u zavisnosti od toga sa kim se zabavljam. (Smeh) I ako se budem bavila snoubordom, moja stopala se neće smrznuti. (Smeh) I što je najbolje od svega, pomislila sam, mogu da učinim da moja stopala budu veličine svih cipela koje su na rafu za rasprodaju. (Smeh) I jesam! Dakle tu je bilo 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.
U ovom trenutku sam postavila sebi to pitanje koje određuje život: Kada bi moj život bio knjiga a ja autor, kako bih želela da se priča odvija? I počela sam da sanjarim. Sanjarila sam kao što sam to činila kao devojčica i zamislila sam sebe kako graciozno hodam, pomažući drugim ljudima na svom putu i ponovo vozeći snoubord. I nisam samo videla sebe kako oblikujem planinu posutu prahom, mogla sam to zaista i da osetim. Mogla sam da osetim vetar na svom licu i otkucaje mog ubrzanog srca kao da se odigravaju upravo u tom trenutku. I tada je otpočelo 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 meseca kasnije bila sam ponovo na snoubordu, mada stvari nisu proticale baš kao što sam očekivala: moja kolena i članci se nisu savijali i u jednom trenutku sam istraumirala sve skijaše na ski liftu kada sam pala i moje noge, još uvek zakačene za moj snoubord - (Smeh) - su poletele niz planinu, a ja sam još uvek bila na vrhu planine. Bila sam tako šokirana, bila sam isto tako šokirana kao i svi ostali, i bila sam tako obeshrabrena, ali sam znala da, ako bih pronašla pravi par stopala, bila bih u stanju da to uradim ponovo. I tada sam naučila da naše granice i naše prepreke mogu učiniti samo dve stvari: prvo, zaustaviti nas na našem putu ili drugo, naterati 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 dalje nisam mogla da otkrijem kakvu vrstu nogu da koristim, nisam mogla da pronađem nikakve izvore koji bi mi pomogli. Tako da sam odlučila da sama napravim par. Moj izrađivač nogu i ja smo nasumično sastavljali delove i napravili smo par stopala u kojima bih mogla da vozim snoubord. Kao što možete videti, zarđali šrafovi, guma, drvo i drečavo rozi selotejp. I da, mogu da pomenim svoj lak za nokte na nogama. Ove noge i najbolji poklon za 21. rođendan koji sam ikada mogla da dobijem - novi bubreg od mog tate - su mi omogućili da ponovo sledim svoje snove. Počela sam da vozim snoubord, onda sam se vratila na posao, zatim sam se vratila 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 omladinu i mlađe odrasle osobe sa fizičkim invaliditetom kako bi se oni mogli uključiti u aktivnim sportovima. Otuda sam imala priliku da odem u Južnu Afriku, gde sam pomogla da se obuju hiljade dečijih stopala da bi ona mogla da pohađaju 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 ovog proteklog februara, osvojila sam dve uzastopne zlatne medalje na Svetskom prvenstvu - (Aplauz) - čime sam postala snouborderka sa pomagalima najvišeg ranga na svetu.
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.
Pre jedanaest godina, kada sam izgubila svoje noge, nisam imala pojma šta da očekujem. Ali ako me pitate danas da li bih ikada želela da promenim svoju situaciju, morala bih da kažem ne. Jer me moje noge nisu onesposobile, čak se može reći da su me osposobile. Naterale su me da se oslanjam na svoju maštu i da verujem u mogućnosti, i zato verujem da naša mašta može biti korišćena kao oruđe za probijanje granica, jer u našim umovima, možemo da uradimo sve i možemo da budemo bilo šta.
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.
Verovanje u te snove i direktno suočavanje sa našim strahovima je ono što nam omogućava da živimo naše živote izvan naših ograničenja. I iako je danas tema inovacija bez granica, moram da kažem da u mom životu, inovacija je jedino bila moguća zbog mojih granica. Naučila sam da su granice tamo gde se ono što je stvarno završava, ali takođe gde mašta i priča započinju.
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.
Misao kojom bih volela da vas danas izazovem je možda da umesto da gledamo naše izazove i ograničenja kao nešto negativno ili loše, možemo da počnemo da ih posmatramo kao blagoslove, veličanstvene darove koji se mogu koristiti da zapale našu maštu i pomognu nam da odemo dalje nego što smo ikada znali da možemo. Ne radi se o rušenju granica. Reč je o odbijanju od njih i uviđanju kakva neverovatna mesta nam mogu doneti. Hvala vam.