W@F Spotlight: Amy Purdy
Name: Amy Purdy
Power Word: Activator
Descriptive words: Fembot | Top-Ranked Snowboarder | Actress
Countries: USA
Industry: Entrepreneur + Athlete + Motivational Speaker + Actress/Model
Company Name: Adaptive Action Sports
Impact: A self-described “fembot,” Amy Purdy lost her legs at the age of 19 but refused to give up her courage and drive. A snowboarding medalist, motivational speaker, and actress- today she is co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports, a non-profit for individuals with physical disabilities who want to get involved in action sports.
If your life were a book, And you were the author—How would you want your story to go?
– Amy Purdy
Amy speaking at W@F 2012:
Designing the Future
Amy Purdy is a survivor who just happens to be a double amputee and an award winning snowboarder. She lost her legs to meningitis at the age of 19 and required a kidney transplant by the age of 21. Following her surgeries, Amy didn’t just dream of walking- she was determined to shred the slopes on her snowboard again. Three months after her transplant, she attended the 2001 USASA (United States of America Snowboard Association) national competition and was inspired to co-found the non-profit, Adaptive Action
Sports (AAS). AAS has become one of the top adaptive snowboard organizations in the U.S. and was partially responsible for getting snowboarding into the ESPN X Games and the 2014 Paralympics. Today, Amy is a three-time world cup gold medal winner in adaptive snowboarding, public speaker, make-up artist, actress, model, and advocate for Element Eden. She continues to dominate adaptive snowboarding and is tied for the No. 2 spot on the world rankings. Amy has been nominated for the U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding Team headed to Sochi in 2014.
Want to know more? Check out Amy’s TEDx talk below:
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