Amy Purdy Quotes

My spleen burst. I remember feeling my heart beating really fast. Beating right out of my chest.

- Amy Purdy

Feeling, I Remember, Chest, Beating

That's the problem with bacterial meningitis: it progresses really fast. You think you have the flu, and they say within 15 hours it's severely deadly - for sure within the first 24 hours - but even the first 15 hours.

- Amy Purdy

Think, Hours, Sure, Deadly

Of course, I was 19 years old, and I suddenly lost my legs. It was extremely traumatic at the time, but I'm so beyond that. I've done so much with my life.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Old, Suddenly, Traumatic

I was 19 years old, and I felt like I had the flu one day. Within 24 hours, I was in the hospital on life support, and I was given less than a 2 percent chance of living. It took five days for the doctors to find out that I had contracted bacterial meningitis.

- Amy Purdy

Percent, One Day, Had, Contracted

I'm a big oatmeal fan. For my every-morning breakfast, I will do oatmeal with cinnamon, goat's milk or even butter, with apples and raisins, and then I'll maybe do some eggs, say two poached eggs with that.

- Amy Purdy

Big, Eggs, Some, Oatmeal

Just the thought of being on Oprah's radar at all is humbling, but to actually have her take time get on the phone with me kind of blows my mind.

- Amy Purdy

Mind, Thought, Kind, Humbling

If we can see past preconceived limitations, then the possibilities are endless.

- Amy Purdy

Past, Possibilities, See, Preconceived

I feel that losing both my legs was a blessing. It was meant to happen to me: I wouldn't have had the opportunity to touch so many lives in such a positive way.

- Amy Purdy

Happen, Meant, Lives, Positive Way

I was on my death bed, and I remember hanging on to these words, 'Don't be scared. You are going to live an amazing life,' and I have.

- Amy Purdy

Death, I Remember, Bed, Amazing Life

My dad had given my sister and I our starter car, a red, old 1985 Chevy Blazer. It was so beat up, the taillights would fall off, and we would use red duct tape.

- Amy Purdy

Chevy, Starter, Given, Blazer

When I turned 16 and got my license, the Chevy Blazer was passed down from my sister, so it was very much a starter car.

- Amy Purdy

Very, Chevy, Turned, Blazer

I grew up born and raised in Las Vegas and actually grew up skiing. You know, we've got some ski resorts close to Las Vegas, up in Mount Charleston or Brian Head, so I grew up skiing and snowboarding.

- Amy Purdy

Skiing, Some, Las Vegas, Mount

A lot of times, people think 'para' as far as 'paralyzed.' 'Para' means 'alongside,' so the Paralympics are alongside the Olympics on the same courses, the same hills.

- Amy Purdy

Think, Courses, Means, Hills

In my dreams, whatever I am doing, I look down to see if I have prosthetics. It sets my time frame in my dream, I think. I'd have these dreams that I am running and launching myself, and I look down and see that I have prosthetics. I have a lot of those, where I do great, amazing things with my prosthetics.

- Amy Purdy

Doing, I Think, Time Frame, Amazing Things

I believe inspiration is contagious.

- Amy Purdy

Believe, Inspiration, Contagious

I have a very good sense of my body and where it's at. Although I don't feel the ground in the same way that somebody else would, I'm very aware... I can feel pressure, and I know exactly where my toes are and exactly where my heel is.

- Amy Purdy

Feel, Very, Good Sense, Heel

Road trips to me are just such an escape. You listen to your music, and you roll the windows down. You're usually going to somewhere fun.

- Amy Purdy

Going, Roll, Your, Trips

At the age of 19, the day after I graduated high school, I moved to a place where it snowed, and I became a massage therapist. With this job, all I needed were my hands and my massage table by my side and I could go anywhere. For the first time in my life, I felt free, independent, and completely in control of my life.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Hands, Became, Massage

After I lost my legs, all I wanted to do was snowboard again. I remember spending an entire year on the computer, looking for 'adaptive snowboarders' or 'snowboard legs' or 'adaptive snowboard schools' or just something that I could connect to. I already knew how to snowboard - I just needed to find the right legs.

- Amy Purdy

I Remember, Year, Needed, Just Something

I lost the life that I knew, and I really had to rethink my future and think about my core values and the things that I love, and my passion, and that's really what helped me move forward. Also, for me just being grateful for what I had in my life versus on focusing on what I was losing, that really helped as well.

- Amy Purdy

Love, Values, My Life, Rethink

All through high school, I was incredibly healthy. I loved the outdoors, and I loved snowboarding because of the freedom.

- Amy Purdy

Through, High, Snowboarding, Outdoors

The way I look at it is, we all have disabilities.

- Amy Purdy

Look, Way, Disabilities

Pfizer's actually teamed up with my nonprofit organization, which is called Adaptive Action Sports. I cofounded this organization in 2005 to help people with physical disabilities get involved in action sports, go snowboarding, skateboarding.

- Amy Purdy

Nonprofit, Get, Snowboarding, Disabilities

If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go? That's the question that changed my life forever.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Question, Author, Changed

I think the designs and creativity are limitless with 3-D-printed clothing.

- Amy Purdy

Think, Clothing, I Think, Limitless

I don't want to see myself as this sad, disabled girl. I know that. I don't want other people to see me as that, either.

- Amy Purdy

Myself, Want, Other, Disabled

There are plenty of people who have legs who are way more disabled than me.

- Amy Purdy

More, Legs, Than, Disabled

My legs haven't disabled me. If anything, they've enabled me.

- Amy Purdy

Me, Anything, Legs, Disabled

I knew what I didn't want. I didn't want people to feel sorry for me. I didn't want people to see me as disabled. I wanted to live a life of adventure and stories.

- Amy Purdy

Want, Knew, Stories, Disabled

What's cool is that Oprah is the same person on stage and in front of a camera as she is off stage and behind the scenes. She speaks the same way on camera as she does off camera.

- Amy Purdy

Cool, Behind, Oprah, Camera

I've always been driven, and I like the creative aspect of figuring things out.

- Amy Purdy

Always, Like, Been, Figuring

We've all seen that every challenge we've gone through, we've learned something from. It's not getting hung up on the challenges but figuring out how to get ahead.

- Amy Purdy

Challenges, Through, Learned, Figuring

I have two prosthetic legs. This is my life; what am I going to do with it? And it's put me on this amazing journey. I can look back and be completely grateful and say I would never want to change anything.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Two, Back, Prosthetic

The thing with prosthetic feet is you can't have all this crazy motion, or you'd be all over the place - because it's mechanical, and it's outside your body.

- Amy Purdy

Feet, Motion, Over, Prosthetic

Just because I've got two prosthetic legs, yeah, I had to adapt in ways, but I've also become a lot stronger. It doesn't mean I'm at any disadvantage, really.

- Amy Purdy

Adapt, Disadvantage, Had, Prosthetic

I'm an athlete, yes, but I'm also a woman. I'm someone who kind of, in a way, lost touch with that part of myself after I lost my legs, because there are certain feminine traits you lose when you have prosthetic legs.

- Amy Purdy

Woman, Feminine, Traits, Prosthetic

In snowboarding, I've always looked at really strong competitors through a lens of gratitude rather than envy in the sense that the better my competition is, the more it forces me to work hard, focus, and be better myself if I want to succeed, which I do.

- Amy Purdy

Strong, Envy, Through, Lens

Dancers know how to move their arms and their hands. But I don't know the first thing about how to move my arms and hands gracefully.

- Amy Purdy

Hands, Dancers, Move, Gracefully

I lost my spleen, I lost the hearing in my left ear, so I had a lot of internal organ damage.

- Amy Purdy

Internal, Organ, Damage, Hearing

Of course, there are benefits to having prosthetics. I can make myself as tall as I want. I can wear flip-flops in the snow if I wanted to. There's benefits.

- Amy Purdy

Myself, Benefits, Having, Tall

Taking off your clothes is one thing. Taking off your clothes and your legs is an entirely different matter.

- Amy Purdy

Legs, One Thing, Your, Entirely

I'm so comfortable on my snowboard that I don't have to think about it very much; it's somewhat second nature.

- Amy Purdy

Nature, Think, Very, Second Nature

I am not an over-the-top kind of person.

- Amy Purdy

I Am, Kind, Person, Over-The-Top

My motivation is not to try to inspire, but rather to do things that inspire me and hopefully that will spread to others.

- Amy Purdy

Inspire, Will, Rather, Hopefully

As for how do I respond to those who want to throw stones, well, I don't.

- Amy Purdy

Want, How, Throw, Respond

I simply do the things that inspire me, be that snowboarding, designing clothing, or dancing.

- Amy Purdy

Dancing, Snowboarding, Designing

Since losing my legs, I've found out that I am able to help other people by sharing how I've overcome my obstacles.

- Amy Purdy

Obstacles, Overcome, Other, Sharing

We all have things that limit us and that challenge us. But really, our real limitations are the ones we believe.

- Amy Purdy

Challenge, Limit, Things, Limitations

We did everything we could to save my legs, and it just came to a point where if we didn't amputate my legs, I wouldn't survive. In that situation, you kind of go into survival mode, and you find strength.

- Amy Purdy

Strength, Survive, Could, Situation

The human foot has bones and muscles and can balance back and forth. If you step and you maybe make a little mistake, your foot can compensate. But if I step in the wrong spot, my foot isn't going to compensate because it's just one piece of carbon fiber.

- Amy Purdy

Back, Maybe, Your, Carbon

I'm learning how strong I am, how resilient I am. I'm learning my weaknesses.

- Amy Purdy

Strong, I Am, How, Resilient

I was in kidney failure. I ended up having a kidney transplant on my 21st birthday.

- Amy Purdy

Birthday, Failure, Having, Kidney

That's really what the Paralympics is about: these amazing athletes and this technology that's allowing them to reach their full potential.

- Amy Purdy

Reach, Athletes, About, Full Potential

I've always made the choice to do everything to my fullest potential.

- Amy Purdy

Always, Made, Fullest, Potential

Oprah has been a true inspiration to me, so I'm truly grateful both to her for taking the time to speak with me, and to the folks at 'DWTS' who set it all up.

- Amy Purdy

Grateful, Been, Set, Folks

I've never wanted sympathy votes in anything I do in my life.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Never, Wanted, Votes

I want to go to dinner with Oprah! Who doesn't?

- Amy Purdy

Want, Go, Oprah, Dinner

I want to live a fulfilling life.

- Amy Purdy

Life, Live, Want, Fulfilling

When you are truly you and share who you are with the world and be confident in who you are, it doesn't matter what size you are. It doesn't matter what your different body parts look like.

- Amy Purdy

Confident, Like, Your, Parts

I made a choice before I lost my legs that I was going to live the best life possible and that I wasn't going to let this slow me down - and that choice has kept me moving forward.

- Amy Purdy

Going, Made, Before, Moving

I like moving, challenging myself.

- Amy Purdy

Myself, Like, Challenging, Moving

It's when I compare myself to what other people are able to do that I run into trouble. It is a bummer. I just constantly try to put things into perspective.

- Amy Purdy

Myself, Other, Compare, Bummer

I'm very grateful that I've had the opportunities I've had.

- Amy Purdy

Grateful, Very, Had, Opportunities

As humans, we need to reach out for support.

- Amy Purdy

Support, Reach, Need, Humans

Dancing is about expressing yourself, and the more walls you let down, the better.

- Amy Purdy

Dancing, Walls, Better, Expressing

I can't really say I miss my toes.

- Amy Purdy

Say, Toes, Really, Miss

I'm one of those people who doesn't want to miss out on anything.

- Amy Purdy

People, Want, Those, Miss

I tried snowboarding at 14, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I snowboarded every day off I had, every weekend I had off of school, every holiday we had off from school, and it became a huge part of my life, not just what I love to do, but really just kind of who I was.

- Amy Purdy

Love, My Life, Became, I Tried

I kind of had to figure stuff out on my own and get myself snowboarding competitively again. I went through all types of different legs to try to learn which were going to work for me. Luckily, I was able to figure it out.

- Amy Purdy

Own, Through, Snowboarding, Luckily

It was challenging. It was never easy for me. My life changed suddenly, and I lost my health. I lost the body that I knew.

- Amy Purdy

Health, My Life, Knew, Challenging

There are no rules in snowboarding.

- Amy Purdy

Rules, Snowboarding, No Rules

You don't always have to have the most amazing story. It's learning to share the story you have that counts.

- Amy Purdy

Amazing, Always, Most, Most Amazing

Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free. I would daydream about traveling the world, living in a place where it snowed, and I would picture all of the stories that I would go on to tell.

- Amy Purdy

Living, Last, Stories, Picture

When disease took my legs, I eventually realized I didn't need them to lead a full, empowering life.

- Amy Purdy

Need, Disease, Took, Full

If you believe that you can't do something, then you're not going to do it. If you believe you can, and you're willing to put in the effort and figure out a way to do it, then the majority of the time, you can.

- Amy Purdy

Going, Willing, Figure, Majority

After I lost my legs, I got invited to my old high school, and I shared my stories with all the classes. I remember I was so nervous and didn't know where to start, but I knew I had information they could take away.

- Amy Purdy

I Remember, Away, Shared, Invited

To be able to walk down the street and have people stop you, not just because they recognize you, but because you somehow personally touched them, it's amazing.

- Amy Purdy

Down, Touched, Them, Recognize

If somebody would've told me that I was going to lose my legs at the age of 19, I would've thought there's absolutely no way I'd be able to handle that. But then it happened, and I realized that there's so much more to live for, that my life isn't about my legs.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Thought, About, Handle

I always felt really lucky that I only lost my legs, because it could've been so much worse.

- Amy Purdy

Lucky, Always, Been, Legs

You can't even imagine the feeling you get when someone tells you that you are about to lose your legs.

- Amy Purdy

Lose, Imagine, About, Legs

For me, I just began, eventually, to embrace what I had. This is what I have to deal with and, not just deal with, but this is what I have to share, and how can I do that the best way.

- Amy Purdy

Embrace, Deal, Best Way, Share

Every day that I am healthy, I want to use that day to its fullest now.

- Amy Purdy

I Am, Use, Fullest, Healthy

I'm not trying to be an inspiration, but I'm flattered to be considered one.

- Amy Purdy

Trying, Flattered, Inspiration

I got this second chance at life, and I live it.

- Amy Purdy

Life, Chance, Got, Second Chance

We all have challenges. You can let them be obstacles or roadblocks, or you can use them.

- Amy Purdy

Obstacles, Challenges, Use, Roadblocks

I always say snowboarding saved my life. It gave me a reason to focus on the future; it gave me something to be passionate about.

- Amy Purdy

My Life, Reason, Always, Snowboarding

I love the smell of rain, and I love the sound of the ocean waves.

- Amy Purdy

Love, Rain, I Love, Waves

I'm really motivated by music, and I love dancing, even if it's just by myself in my room or if it's going out with my friends.

- Amy Purdy

Love, Dancing, Going, Motivated

I've learned that borders are where the actual ends, but also where the imagination and the story begins.

- Amy Purdy

Begins, Actual, Learned, Ends

I knew I loved music, and I knew that I could feel music. So, I knew I had rhythm.

- Amy Purdy

Music, Loved, Could, Rhythm

For me, a bad day is when I have nothing going on.

- Amy Purdy

Bad, Nothing, Going, Bad Day

I knew I loved dancing with my friends.

- Amy Purdy

Dancing, Friends, Loved, Knew

My dad gave me life twice. I thank him by using the strong body I now have.

- Amy Purdy

Strong, Using, Dad, Thank

Yes, there are things that I can't change, but the things I can, I'm going to do everything in my power to work very hard through them and come out stronger on the other side.

- Amy Purdy

Through, Other, Very, Stronger

If you want something bad enough and you work hard enough, anything's possible.

- Amy Purdy

Work, Want, Bad, Work Hard

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