Empowering WSICF Stories
When Anthony was a teenager in 2010 he got his start in snowboarding. His dad and some of his friends who snowboarded took Anthony out. Anthony said, “I realized that I love this and I wanted to be out here in the storms and the deep snow and pretty much just out on the mountain.
Maya Oberstein is a 21-year-old nursing student at Northeastern University. She started gymnastics when she was four years old. She says, “I just always loved the feeling that it gave me it’s this feeling of complete freedom. So I competed from age five onwards.” At nine years old she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
Emma, age 11, was born without a right tibia. That made her right leg non-functional. As a baby they tried to fashion a prosthesis and she even had a procedure that tried to make that leg work. But it didn’t work and she had a full amputation when she was 8. It was once she was in 4th grade that she, for the first time, really realized she was missing out and wanted to run.
Jackie lost her right leg mid calf from a motorboat propeller accident while she was swimming behind the boat. She is a sports enthusiast, especially snowboarding. So WSICF got her a specially designed snowboarding leg that she took to immediately. Now, like Anthony, she is training for the Paralympics for which she needed the same special foot Anthony got.
McKinley is an identical twin but only she got cerebral palsy at birth. Their family loves to ski but could not all do it together because someone had to be with McKinley. They asked for help getting a bi-ski which WSICF provided. Now the whole family skis together with dad Jim driving the bi-ski while Kinley squeals in delight.
Victoria lost her left leg above the ankle from a hit-and-run motorcycle accident. She was a dedicated beach runner but had not been able to run since the accident. So WSICF, in collaboration with her Florida prosthetist, got her a high performance running leg.
Hugh lost both legs below the knee at 17 during an ice climbing accident where he got lost on the wilderness side of Mt Washington. He and a friend tried to survive in a snow cave for four days. Now he is a runner, and world-class climber, and the world’s leading researcher in advanced bionics.
Kelly was born with only one leg and got teased about it at school. She fought back by excelling beyond her peers at basketball, swimming, biking, and most of all, running. She competes in triathlons and ultra marathons. She also is a doctor and a fitness coach.
Maureen lost the use of her legs from a fall off of a seawall. She was depressed and a friend suggested she try sailing to get her self-confidence back. She did and loved it and started to excel at it. That led to her being the first American to win Paralympic gold in sailing.