1. Nick Vujicic
Nick Vujicic
My name is Nick Vujicic and I'm 25 years old. I was born without arms or legs and given no medical reason for this condition. Faced with countless challenges and obstacles, God has given me the strength to surmount what others might call impossible.
Along with that, the Lord has placed within me an unquenchable passion to share this same hope and genuine love that I've personally experienced with more than two million people all over the globe.
2. Nando Parrado
Nando Parrado
Survived airplane crash and 72 days in the Andes.
On Friday 13th October 1972 an Uruguayan airplane that took 45 passengers towards Chile, of which many were students and players of a rugby team, crashed in the Cordillera de los Andes.
Twelve died because of the crash and fall, and the survivors had to support among other things to the frightful Cordillera, thirty degrees Celsius below zero during the nights, and hunger.
They tried to resist with the little nutritional reserves they had, hoping to be rescued, but their hope felt when they found out, at the tenth day of the accident, by one radio transistor, that the search had finished. Surviving between the desperation and impossible physical conditions, at 4,500 meters of height, with temperatures of 30º C below zero, arises a society and perfect forms of leadership.
Desperate with the absence of food and their endurance exhausted, they were forced to feed themselves off their dead companions, so they could be able to continue living. Finally fed up with the lowest temperatures, the threatening avalanches, distressed by the continuous death of their companions, and the slow delay of the rescue, Nando Parrado decides to cross the huge mountains to arrive to Chile.
After eleven days, very weak and determined... after crossing the Andes on foot and loosing 40 kgs of weight... finds a shepherd in the mountains, who looks for help in a near town. One patrol arrives and then, the helicopters….Nando rises the helicopter and guide the initial rescue of his companions, before being committed in the Hospital of San Fernando.
The 22nd December 1972, after being isolated of everything during 72 days, the world finds out that sixteen are the survivors who "beat death", in the Cordillera de los Andes.
3. Jessica Cox
Jessica Cox
Became the first pilot with no arms, proving you don't need 'wings' to fly.
Jessica Cox suffered a rare birth defect and was born without any arms. None of the prenatal tests her mother took showed there was anything wrong with her. And yet she was born with this rare congenital disease, but also with a great spirit.
This psychology graduate can write, type, drive a car, brush her hair and talk on her phone simply using her feet. Ms Cox, from Tuscon, Arizona, USA, is also a former dancer and double black belt in Tai Kwon-Do. She has a no-restrictions driving license, she flies planes and she can type 25 words a minute.
The plane she is flying is called an Ercoupe and it is one of the few airplanes to be made and certified without pedals. Without rudder pedals Jessica is free to use her feet as hands. She took three years instead of the usual six months to complete her lightweight aircraft licence, had three flying instructors and practiced 89 hours of flying, becoming the first pilot with no arms.
4. Sean Swarner
Sean Swarner
1st cancer survivor to complete the 7-summits, the highest peaks of the 7 continents.
Sean Swarner has broken through defined human limitation in order to redefine the way the world views success.
Sean was diagnosed with two completely different types of cancer, once at the age of 13 and again at the age of 16 where he was given fourteen days to live and read his last rights. He astounded the medical community when he survived both these brutal diseases and a medical-induced coma.
Sean realized that after defeating cancer twice, no challenge would ever be too great or any peak
too high.
Sean proved his theory when he crested the peak of the highest point in the world (Mount Everest) with only partial use of his lungs. As the first cancer survivor to do so, Sean decided to continue climbing and has since topped the highest peaks in Africa, Europe, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and North America.
5. Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch - Last Lecture
Inspired thousands of people with his dying speech - The Last Lecture.
Randolph Frederick "Randy" Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pausch learned that he had pancreatic cancer, a terminal illness, in September of 2006. He gave an upbeat lecture entitled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video and led to other media appearances.
He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller. Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008.
In his famous speech, Pausch showed a list of his childhood dreams, and explained how he achieved each of them. His dreams were being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, being the author of a World Book Encyclopedia article, meeting and being Captain Kirk, being "one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park", and becoming a Disney Imagineer.
He was given 3 months of life, he lived 3 more years.
6. Ben Underwood
Ben Underwood
The blind boy who could “see” with his ears.
Ben Underwood was a remarkable teenager, who loved to skateboard, ride his bicycle and play football and basketball. For the most part, the Californian 14-year-old was just like other kids his age. What made Underwood remarkable was his ability to master these activities despite the fact that he is blind.
Underwood had both eyes removed after being diagnosed with retinal cancer at age two. To most people's amazement upon meeting him, he seems completely unfazed by his lack of sight, defying common stereotypes about blindness as a disability. So how does he do it? The answer is echolocation: the sonar navigation technique used by bats, dolphins, several other mammals and some birds.
As Underwood moved about, he habitually made clicking noises with his tongue; these sounds bounce off surfaces and, with each return, add to Underwood's perception of his surroundings.
He's so good at it that he could tell the difference between a fire hydrant and a rubbish bin, distinguish between parked cars and trucks, and — if you took him to a house he's never been to before — he would tell you he could 'see' a staircase in that corner and a kitchen in the other. He could even distinguish between different materials.
An unflinching faith in God guided Ben and his mother his last few months as cancer spread to Ben's brain and spine. He finally died on January 2009 at the age of 16.
7. Liz Murray
From Homeless to Harvard
Elizabeth "Liz" Murray was born September 23, 1980 the Bronx, New York, to poor, drug-addicted, HIV-infected parents. She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter.
Murray's life turned around when she began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. Though she started high school later than most students, and remained without a stable home while supporting herself and her sister, Murray graduated in only two years.
She was awarded a New York Times scholarship for needy students and accepted into Harvard University, matriculating in the fall semester of 2000. She left Harvard in 2003 to care for her sick father; she resumed her education at Columbia University to be closer to him until 2006 when he died of AIDS.
As of May 2008, she was back at Harvard working towards her degree with plans to graduate with a degree in psychology in June 2009.
Her life became a movie in 2003 and she now works as a professional speaker, represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau. That same gutsy strength that pulled her from the streets now transforms the lives of others, from student groups to business audiences in need of inspiration to overcome their own obstacles.
8. Patrick Henry Hughes
Patrick Henry Hughes
Born blind and crippled, now "marches" in the Louisville marching band.
Patrick is a remarkable young man who was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, making him unable to walk. Additionally, two steel rods were
surgically attached to Patrick's spine to correct scoliosis.
Despite circumstances, Patrick has overcome these physical issues to excel as a musician and student. Patrick started playing the piano at the age of only nine months, and also plays the trumpet and sings.
He even participates in the University of Louisville School of Music Marching and Pep Bands with help from his father (Patrick John Hughes), who tirelessly maneuvers his wheel chair through the formations with the other 220+ members of the Cardinal Marching Band.
A virtuoso pianist, vocalist and trumpet player, Patrick has won numerous competitions, as well as winning awards acknowledging the circumstances he has overcome to achieve these heights.
He has been featured on ESPN, ABC-TV, Oprah, CBS-TV, The Ellen Show, Extreme Make Over Home Edition, FOX-TV, CSTV, NBC-TV, Million Dollar Round Table, The Grand Ole Opry, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Star Magazine, and many, many others.
Sumber :
A Notes from a friend
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