Life Without Limits (17 page)

Our hysterical cries could be heard throughout the clinic. Staff came running because it sounded as though we were being brutally tortured. Unfortunately, the reinforcements quickly took the wrong side. Two of them pinned me down for an injection. I screamed like a banshee.

I kept squirming just as they went to jam the needle in my bum. I jerked around and forced the needle to go in and pop out again. So the doctor had to jam it in me again! My screams set off car alarms in the parking lot.

How any of us—my siblings, my mother, or the clinic staff—survived that day, I’ll never know. The three of us wailed all the way home.

Because I was so afraid, my fears made the pain worse than it would have been if I’d just let them administer the shot. In fact, I doubled my pain because I did not manage my fear. I couldn’t walk for two days instead of just one!

So keep that little fable from my life in mind: when you let your fears control your actions, you are only asking for serious pain in your bum!

That was some good chocolate! Thanks, Mum!

This is my favorite photo (6 months old). Happy, confident, and cute— right? My blissful ignorance was a blessing at that age, not knowing that I was different or that many challenges awaited me.

At 2½, driving and getting acquainted with my first set of wheels. Watch your feet, guys!

Always one of my favorite places to go and play with my favorite cars and trucks. I loved the sand in sunny Queensland, and at 3, I’d jump the ripples of the little waves on the shore.

My brother’s and my favorite game to play was Battleship. I sometimes used my arms but in the end it was clear that I managed to accomplish most tasks more efficiently on my own without the aid of prosthetics.

As Joni Eareckson-Tada said, “We’ve all got wheels.” I feel a sense of liberation when using my custom-built electronic wheelchair.

(
Photo courtesy of Ally
)

Mission accomplished: I graduated in a double-major at Griffith University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Planning and Accounting in 2003 at the age of 21.

Me with Mum and Dad (Dushka and Boris) at the Anaheim Angel Stadium before I went onstage in front of 55,000 people in 2009.

Hangin’ with my brother, Aaron, and his wife, Michelle.

Soaking up the summer and catching up with my beautiful sister, Michelle.

Working out hand signals with my instructor as I go scuba-diving in a pool for the first time to get a feel for it. Cool experience!