Emery Vanderburgh, had her leg amputated and explores disability representation
Emery Vanderburgh co-founded the advocacy group Ampuseek because of the challenges she faced getting funding for a prosthetic leg.
Jess Quinn, lost her right leg to cancer at the age of 9
Jess Quinn has a passion for helping people overcome adversity and insecurity using her own experiences. Since losing her right leg to cancer at the age of 9, Jess has refused to let that stand in her way of living life to its fullest with a core passion for helping others overcome their physical and mental setbacks along the way.
Haven Shepherd, the US swimmer paralympian who survived a family suicide attempt in early age
“My parents detonated a bomb inside our tiny, thatched roof hut. I was supposed to die that night.” “I don’t remember the explosion. It’s strange to know something so traumatic happened to you that you shouldn’t be alive, but you have no memory of it. Even though it changed the trajectory of my life in the most profound way. One
Samantha Tokita McLean, content creator and disability advocate
Little leg, big attitude. Muaythai fighter congenital amputee portrait photographer. Content creator and disability advocate.
John Edward Heath, after having his leg amputated, this former Marine won’t let anything stop him
“I’m the first amputee a lot of pro athletes have ever seen, let alone lifting the amount of weight that I do,” said Heath. “They don’t know the struggle of what it is being an amputee, and wearing a prosthetic. When I take off my running blade and take off my stump sleeve, and they see a large-scale of skin and blisters, they’re like, ‘Yo, what?’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ And they’re like, ‘How are you training on that?’ It just opened up a whole different conversation.”
Bethany Hamilton, shark attack survivor
On October 31, 2003, Hamilton went surfing off Makua (Tunnels) Beach on Kauai. As she was paddling on her surfboard, a 14-foot (4.3-meter) tiger shark attacked. It bit off her left arm just below the shoulder. Friends immediately called for help, and Hamilton was rushed to the hospital. She lost more than half the blood in her body and underwent several surgeries. Miraculously, she was able to return to surfing a month later. Within the year she was once again entering competitions. She adjusted her technique to compensate for the lost limb. In 2005 she won a national surfing title and joined the professional ranks two years later.
Kanya Sesser, demonstrated that physical differences are not limits in life
During the first year of being adopted it was hard to connect with my new family. My first language was Thai, I had to learn English and I didn’t develop full English until I was about nine years old.
In school I had many friends but I was scared to go to birthday parties and I was shy to meet new people. I was never been bullied, but questioned and looked at, and those things are typical for me, nothing has changed.
But life was amazing in high school. I was a jock, going to all-state championships, had lots of people around me and went to many parties. Those were the years I lived my life carefree.
Sophie de Oliveira Barata, create highly stylized wearable art piece prosthetics
Sophie turned her passion for special effects into crafting innovative, timeless designs to inspire creativity within the medical prosthetics world.
James Young, the coolest bionic arm
Amputee gamer shows off ‘Iron Man arm’ When James Young lost an arm and a part of a leg in an accident in 2012.
Juan Pablo Medina says: “I want to enjoy what I did win”
Born in 1976, Juan Pablo Medina is known for his work in projects like Soy tu fan, La casa de las flores, Wanted dad, Guadalupe Reyes, El club of the idealists, Love of my loves, Thirty, single and fantastic, etc.
Jason Barnes is a musician again with a robotic hand
His music teacher, Eric Sanders, was intrigued with what Jason had accomplished and showed him a music video of some work done by an engineer named Gil Weinberg from the Georgia Tech Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines.
Extreme bionics: The future of human ability
Hugh Herr, Aimee Mullins and Hans Georg Näder Speakers discuss new advancements in genetics, regenerative medicine, and biomechatronics that promise to transcend human limitations and end disability as we know it; from optogenetic interfaces with the human nervous system to synthetic appendages that move and feel like biological counterparts. Share
Hugh Herr, Princess of Asturias Award for world leader in the field of bionics and biomechanics
Statement by Hugh Herr on being bestowed with the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
Aimee Mullins, reinvented herself in a powerful way
Aimee Mullins, double amputee and record-breaking athlete, shares how she learned to look at her prosthetics in a new light.