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Life without limb-its: The astonishing story of the man born without arms or legs... who plays golf, surfs, and swims
Nick Vujicic was born with no arms or legs - but he doesn't let the details stop him.
The brave 26-year-old - who is mainly torso - plays football and golf, swims, and surfs, despite having no limbs.
Nick has a small foot on his left hip which helps him balance and enables him to kick.He uses his one foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.
'I call it my chicken drumstick,' joked Nick, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, but now lives in Los Angeles. 'I'd be lost without it.
'When I get in the water I float because 80 per cent of my body is lungs and my drumstick acts as a propeller.'
Due to his faith as an Evangelical Christian, Nick has chosen to remain a virgin until marriage although he has had long-term girlfriends in the past.
'He's very modest but he gets marriage proposals from women all the time,' said Nick's friend and publicist Steve Appel, from Los Angeles.
'He would love to get married and start a family but he's waiting for the right girl to come along.'
When Nick was born his father was so shocked he left the hospital room to vomit. His distraught mother couldn't bring herself to hold him until he was four months old.
His disability came without any medical explanation - a rare occurrence called Phocomelia - and Nick and his parents spent many years asking why this cruel trick would happen to them.
'My mother was a nurse and she did everything right during pregnancy but she still blamed herself,' he said.
'It was so hard for them but right from the start they did their best to make me independent.
'My dad put me in the water at 18 months and gave the courage to learn how to swim.
'I also got really into football and skateboarding. I totally love the English Premier League.'
Nick's father was a computer programmer and accountant and he taught his little son how to type with his toe at just 6 years old.
His mum invented a special plastic device that meant he could hold a pen and pencil.
Despite the risk of bullying, his parents insisted Nick attended mainstream school.
'It was the best decision they could have made for me,' adds Nick, who later achieved a degree in Financial Planning and Real Estate. 'It was very hard but it gave me independence.'
Nick, who was teased and bullied, had an electric wheelchair for mobility, and a team of carers to help him.
'I was deeply depressed when I was eight years old,' he said. 'I went to my mum crying and told her I wanted to kill myself.
'I felt cold and bitter. I hated God for doing this to me and was terrified of what would happen when my parents weren't there to look after me.
'I could brush my own teeth with a wall mounted brush and wash my own hair with pump action soap, but there was so much that was impossible for me.'
At age ten Nick, tried to drown himself in the bath but luckily the attempt was unsuccessful.
'I felt there was no purpose when you lack purpose and strength it is hard to hold on,' he said.
But with the help of his religion, friends and family, Nick managed to pull through to become an international symbol of triumph over adversity.
The football fan is now a motivational speaker and has travelled to over 24 countries speaking to groups of up to 110,000 people.
'When I was 13 I read a newspaper article about a disabled man who had managed to achieve great things and help others,' said Nick, who also plays golf with the club tucked under his chin.
'I realised why God had made us like this - to give hope to others. It was so inspirational to me that I decided to use my life to encourage other people and give them the courage that the article had given me.
'I decided to be thankful for what I do have, not get angry about what I don't.
'I looked at myself in the mirror and said: 'You know what the world is right that I have no arms or legs, but they'll never take away the beauty of my eyes.' I wanted to concentrate on something good that I had.'
In 1990 Nick won the Australian Young Citizen of the Year award for his bravery and perseverance.
'When kids run up to me and ask 'what happened?' I just lean over and whisper 'cigarettes', he laughed.
'And once I was in a car and this girl at traffic lights was giving me the eye. She could only see my head so I decided to do a 360 in the car seat to freak her out.
'Her face was like woooooooah what is going on? She sped off really quickly.'
Nick began travelling the world and in 2008 he went to Hawaii and met surfing master Bethany Hamilton, who had her arm bitten off by a shark when she was 12.
'She was amazing, said Nick. 'She taught me how to surf and I was terrified at first, but once I got up there it felt absolutely fantastic and I caught some waves pretty well.'
Nick quickly learned how to do three 360 degree spins on his board - a feat that got him on the cover of Surfer magazine within 48 hours.
'No one has ever done that in the history of surfing,' he said.
'But I have a very low centre of gravity so I've got pretty good balance.'
He moved to Los Angeles two years ago and plans to continue to travel the world - this year he will visit South America and the Middle East.
'I tell people to keep on getting up when they fall and to always love themselves,' he said.
'If I can encourage just one person then my job in this life is done.'
Soure: Mail Online
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196755/The-astonishing-story-man-born-arms-legs--world-famous-swimmer-surfer-footballer.html)
“Secrets” about extraordinary man Nguyen Ngoc Ky
At the age of 4, the boy Nguyen Ngoc Ky’s two arms were paralyzed after illness. It was thought that the boy's life was 'crucified' to the fate of disability.
Yet, with extraordinary courage, Nguyen Ngoc Ky has not only "beyond himself," but also has achieved successes that many people have dreamed of ...
Now, at the age of 67, Mr. Ky, a retired teacher, is a writer and a consultant for 1080!
Having just left hospital after dialysis, Ky lied in bed to talk with us. We were afraid that he might be tired, but strangely, his voice was still strong: “No, no problem! People are usually tired after 3 hours of dialysis but I take advantage of that time to turn it into 3 helpful hours by practicing meditation. The effect is extraordinary.”
Special teacher Nguyen Ngoc Ky had a very cordial talks with us.
Could you tell me more about the method you are applying?
He is reading newspaper.
In 1972, I visited the sapper training course in Phu Ly and a colonel instructed me to breathe deeply and move the air flow inside my body. Good effect! Then, in 1992 - 1993 I moved into the South, I began practicing exercises and studying energy healing.
The result is wonderful. I do not eat much, but I’m very healthy. I have to sit a lot, but my belly is not big and my body remains balanced.
You have practiced methods that bring about "very miraculous results" as you have said, but why do you still have to need dialysis?
(Laughs) I’m now nearly 70 years old. You know, I suffered from illness, paralysis of both hands, and my body was sick, do not like normal people when I was a boy.
Yet, apart from multiply efforts than normal people to do things that normal people do, I have to have good health, too.
I take an example for you to understand. When I was at primary school, to fold a bird, my classmates needed only 1 minute but I had to fold it by feet for a hundred of times!
Since the age of four, when I started the first grade until I entered the college, when I became a teacher, participated in many meetings, talks and seminars all over the country, I had to take health multiple times more than normal people.
I participated in 1,330 talks. About 60 years of studying, living and working, besides the will, energy, health is a must.
If I do not practice, how can I have health to be like today?
As a consultant for the 1080 switchboard, how do you see the changes of our society today compared to the years when you were young?
He waters plants by his mouth.
Our society is developing very fast so many orders and values have changed a lot. I am extremely poignant this: Happiness that is framed in stiff values will become unhappiness!
Those who called me are mainly students, parents, and other objects, but the main themes are love, marriage, family…
Once a girl who was preparing to commit suicide called me to tell her story and ask me a few questions. After hearing her story, I told her: "You are very lucky, I wish I was you..."
Her story is actually the story of a lot of people in our society, but the problem is they do not find the solution for it.
Or another case of confusion, tragedy: The husband is a successful businessman. His beautiful young wife is 20 years old less than him. Due to work pressure, the business did not have time for his family. His wife had adultery with his young employee.
I told him what caused this tragedy and more importantly, how to deal with it. That afternoon the businessman texted his wife for a date at a quiet romantic place to talk according to my "script." Then the couple overcame the risk of break-up.
They had a healing evening full of happiness. The next day the man took his wife to see me. He thanked me and said: "I regret to not see you sooner!"
The society is now "opener" than in your young age?
The current trend is love being associated with sex. But there is also the trend of sex alone. This is just instinct, part of human nature.
As a consultant who is a writer and used to be a teacher, how do you assess the current trend of young people as well as the social problems that you face during the consultant process?
It is true that our society is becoming more open, more modern. However, everything must be rational, under certain conditions. Otherwise, it will fall from one extreme to another extreme.
There is a boy whose parents live in the United States but he only wanted to live in Vietnam. Because he liked to living in “freedom.”
He lived in a luxury house, was served by a maid and had a driver who takes him to school. When he was an 11th grade student, he had a girlfriend and he took her home to sleep together.
This is a case of relaxed instincts, needs and losing the will. Cases like this, unfortunately, happen for children of officials and rich families.
In contrast, there are extremely good students, who only focus on studies to prepare for the future.
It is a divide in society today, especially in young people, students. If we can identify it so there's no surprise or wonder. In the general trend of the times, we need to give more support to young people to help them find the right direction.
Difficulty and hardship can better train people than richness and happiness? From your experience, what do you think about this conclusion?
Hardships train good people. That's right.
In a recent exchange, a student asked me: "From a boy with two paralyzed arms, how could you become a teacher. Have you ever felt a complex?"
I said: "Yes, I felt a lot of complex. I know who I’m, a person with a disability! To offset the losses, I have to try more than normal, try in an extraordinary way! That is the way of a disabled person like me.”
My life is the life of a person with disabilities, so I always try to compensate by time and efforts, creativity and dreams and determination.
During my school time I always suffered from this. My classmates initially teased me. I was just quiet with my disabled hands but in my heart, I was determined to compensate my disabilities by my wisdom.
As a result, after some time, many of my classmates who used to tease me turned to ask me about lessons and play with me!
Source: Vietnamnet
