Famous disabled people who have achieved something. Despite the serious illness, they achieved success

Everyone now knows about the Paralympic movement. Some Paralympic athletes are just as famous as their able-bodied counterparts. And some of these amazing people challenge ordinary athletes and not only compete on par with them, but also win. Below are 10 of the most striking examples of this in the history of world sports.

1. Markus Rehm. Germany. Athletics

As a child, Marcus was involved in wakeboarding. At the age of 14, as a result of a training accident, he lost right leg below the knee. Despite this, Markus returned to the sport and in 2005 won the German youth wakeboarding championship.
After that, Rehm switched to athletics and took up long jumping and sprinting, using a special prosthesis like the one Oscar Pistorius has. In 2011-2014, Rehm won a lot of tournaments among athletes with disabilities, including the 2012 Paralympics in London (gold in the long jump and bronze in the 4x100 meter relay).
In 2014, Rehm won the long jump at the German Championship among ordinary athletes, ahead of former European champion Christian Reif. However, the German Athletics Union did not allow Rehm to participate in the 2014 European Championships: biomechanical measurements showed that due to the use of a prosthesis, the athlete had some advantages over ordinary athletes.

2. Natalie du Toit. SOUTH AFRICA. Swimming

Natalie was born on January 29, 1984 in Cape Town. Since childhood, she has been swimming. At the age of 17, while returning from training, Natalie was hit by a car. Doctors had to amputate the girl's left leg. However, Natalie continued to play sports, and competed not only with Paralympians, but also with able-bodied athletes. In 2003, she won the All-Africa Games in the 800 meters and took bronze in the Afro-Asian Games in the 400 meters freestyle.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, du Toit competed in the 10 km open water swim against able-bodied athletes and finished 16th out of 25 competitors. She became the first athlete in history to carry her country's flag at the opening ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

3. Oscar Pistorius. SOUTH AFRICA. Athletics

Oscar Pistroius was born on November 22, 1986 in Johannesburg into a wealthy family. Oscar had a congenital physical disability - he was missing a few tibia on both legs. So that the boy could use prosthetics, it was decided to amputate his legs below the knee.
Despite his disability, Oscar studied at a regular school and was actively involved in sports: rugby, tennis, water polo and wrestling, but later decided to concentrate on running. For Pistorius, special prostheses were designed from carbon fiber, a very durable and lightweight material.
Among athletes with disabilities, Pistorius had no equal in sprinting: from 2004 to 2012, he won 6 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals at the Paralympic Games. For a long time he sought the opportunity to compete with able-bodied athletes. Sports officials initially resisted this: first it was believed that the springy prosthetics would give Pistorius an advantage over other runners, then there were concerns that the prosthetics could cause injury to other athletes. In 2008, Oscar Pistorius finally won the right to participate in competitions for ordinary athletes. In 2011, he won a silver medal as a member of the South African team in the 4x100 meter relay.
Oscar Pistorius's career ended on February 14, 2013, when he murdered his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius claimed that he committed the murder by mistake, mistaking the girl for a robber, but the court considered the murder premeditated and sentenced the athlete to 5 years in prison.

4. Natalia Partyka. Poland. Table tennis

Natalya Partyka was born with a congenital disability - without her right hand and forearm. Despite this, Natalya played table tennis since childhood: she played holding the racket in her left hand.
In 2000, 11-year-old Partyka took part in the Paralympic Games in Sydney, becoming the youngest participant in the games. In total, she has 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze Paralympic medals.
At the same time, Partyka participates in competitions for healthy athletes. In 2004, she won two gold medals at the European Cadet Championships, in 2008 and 2014 at the adult European Championships she won bronze, and in 2009, silver.

5. Héctor Castro. Uruguay. Football

At the age of 13, Hector Castro lost his right hand as a result of careless handling of an electric saw. However, this did not stop him from playing great football. He was even nicknamed El manco - "The One-Armed One".
As a member of the Uruguay national team, Castro won the 1928 Olympics and the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 (Castro scored the last goal in the final), as well as two championships South America and three Uruguay championships.
After finishing his football career, Castro became a coach. Under his leadership, his home club Nacional won the national championship 5 times.

6. Murray Halberg. New Zealand. Athletics

Murray Halberg was born on July 7, 1933 in New Zealand. In his youth, he played rugby, but during one of the matches he suffered a serious injury to his left hand. Despite all the doctors' efforts, the arm remained paralyzed.
Despite his disability, Halberg did not give up sports, but switched to long-distance running. Already in 1954 he won his first title at the national level. At the 1958 Commonwealth Games he won gold in the three mile race and was voted New Zealand Sportsman of the Year.
At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Halberg competed in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. At the first distance he won, and at the second he took 5th place.
In 1961, Halberg set three world records over 1 mile in 19 days. In 1962 he again competed in the Commonwealth Games, where he carried the New Zealand flag at the opening ceremony and defended his title over three miles. Murray Halberg ended his athletic career in 1964 after competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh in the 10,000 meters.
Leaving big sport, Halberg became involved in charity work. In 1963 he created the Halberg Trust for disabled children, which became the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation in 2012.
In 1988 Murray Halberg was awarded honorary title Knight Bachelor for service to sports and disabled children.

7. Takács Károly. Hungary. Pistol shooting

Already in the 1930s, the Hungarian soldier Károly Takács was considered a world-class marksman. However, he was unable to take part in the 1936 Olympics, since he only had the rank of sergeant, and only officers were accepted into the shooting team. In 1938, as a result of the explosion of a faulty grenade, Takach was torn off. right hand. In secret from his colleagues, he began to train, holding a pistol in his left hand, and already next year was able to win the Hungarian Championship and the European Championship.
At the 1948 London Olympics, Takács won the pistol shooting competition, breaking the world record. Four years later, at the Helsinki Olympics, Károly Takács successfully defended his title and became the first ever two-time Olympic champion in rapid-fire pistol shooting.
After finishing his career as an athlete, Takács worked as a coach. His student Szilard Kuhn became a silver medalist at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.

8. Lim Dong Hyun. South Korea. Archery

Lim Dong Hyun suffers from severe myopia: his left eye has only 10% vision and his right eye has 20%. Despite this, the Korean athlete is engaged in archery.
For Lim, targets are simply colored spots, but the athlete fundamentally does not use glasses or contact lenses, and also refuses laser correction vision. Through extensive training, Lim has developed phenomenal muscle memory, allowing him to achieve amazing results: he is a two-time Olympic champion and a four-time world champion in archery.

9. Oliver Halassy (Halassy Olivér). Hungary. Water polo and swimming

At the age of 8, Oliver was hit by a tram and lost part of his left leg below the knee. Despite his disability, he was actively involved in sports - swimming and water polo. Halassi was a member of the Hungarian water floor team, the world leader in the sport in the 1920s and 1930s. As a member of the national team, he won three European Championships (in 1931, 1934 and 1938) and two Olympics (in 1932 and 1936), and also became a silver medalist at the 1928 Olympics.
In addition, Halassi showed good results in freestyle swimming, but only at the national level. He won about 30 gold medals at the Hungarian championships, but international level his results were weaker: only in 1931 he won the European Championship in the 1500-meter freestyle, and did not compete in swimming at all at the Olympic Games.
Upon completion sports career Oliver Halassi worked as an auditor.
Oliver Halassi died under very vague circumstances: on September 10, 1946, he was shot dead Soviet soldier Central group of troops in their own car. For obvious reasons, this fact was not advertised in socialist Hungary, and the details of the incident remained unclear.

10. George Eyser. USA. Artistic gymnastics

Georg Eiser was born in 1870 in German city Keel. In 1885, his family emigrated to the United States, and therefore the athlete became known by the English form of his name - George Acer.
In his youth, Eiser was hit by a train and almost completely lost his left leg. He was forced to use a wooden prosthesis. Despite this, Eiser did a lot of sports - in particular, gymnastics. He took part in the 1904 Olympics, where he won 6 medals in various gymnastic disciplines (exercises on the uneven bars, vault, rope climbing - gold; exercises on the pommel horse and exercises on 7 apparatus - silver; exercises on the horizontal bar - bronze). Thus, George Acer is the most decorated amputee athlete in Olympic history.
At the same Olympics, Eiser participated in triathlon (long jump, shot put and 100-meter dash), but took last, 118th place.
After the Olympic triumph, Eiser continued to perform as a member of the Concordia gymnastics team. In 1909, he won the National Gymnastics Festival in Cincinnati.

Society is accustomed to the fact that disabled people have the means mass media are described as weak, helpless people demanding pity. But real examples physically limited people who have achieved incredible success, indicate a completely opposite result. Today, a disabled person who has achieved success is a real hero. Not only does he not need help, but he himself can provide it to many who want it.

Even for an ordinary person, achieving success in a particular field of activity can be quite difficult. And a disabled person, despite the inadequate attitude of some people around him, as well as incomplete physical capabilities, to achieve a similar goal healthy person goal, must make twice or even three times as much effort. But it's worth it, after crossing all life's obstacles, these people will become good example and will be able to motivate absolutely everyone. To better understand the scale of the greatness of these, it is worth remembering some of them.

Nick Vujicic

Born on December 4, 1982 in a family of emigrants from Serbia. Has a rare genetic disease– tetraamelia. This disabled person is deprived by nature of both arms and legs. Nick's only limb is one small foot, 10–15 cm, with two toes that are fused together. All the parents could do to help their child was to persuade the doctors to perform an operation on him to separate the fused fingers. To a little boy such surgical intervention it was enough, and as a result he achieved great success in life.

First, with incredible efforts, he learned to type, and then he began to write motivational letters, which were extremely popular not only among sick people, but also among healthy people. Worried about his appearance, this strong-willed disabled person mastered the principles of positive psychology. He concluded that all complexes and fears occur solely due to negative thoughts. By clearing your mind, you can completely change everything in your life.

Today, Nick Vujicic works as a motivational speaker, invited to speak on all continents. Mostly his speeches are listened to by disabled people and people who, for certain reasons, have lost the meaning in life. In addition to success, the courageous disabled person has other joys in life - a beautiful wife and an absolutely healthy son.

Anna McDonald

British writer, born 1952. Unlike Nick, Anna did not even receive parental support as a child. Due to the careless handling of the mother, literally a few days after birth, the baby suffered a head injury. Because of her, the disabled girl became intellectually disabled. Noticing the growing mental retardation child, her family gave her to an orphanage. In this institution, the girl noticed that she was different from healthy people and immediately began to actively work on herself. The task ahead was difficult, because even the teachers did not help her. Having found the alphabet on the shelves, the girl spent months studying the meaning of one letter. Having learned to read, Anna did not miss a single book that fell into her hands.

Having literally developed her talent as a writer with great effort, the already young girl wrote a memoir called “Anna’s Exit,” describing her many difficulties on the path to growing up. The memoirs achieved worldwide recognition and were later filmed. As a result, the disabled woman became a welcome guest on foreign channels and significantly improved her financial condition. After this Anna Macdonald wrote large number books, got married successfully and began to conduct active charitable work with people who also have certain physical and mental disabilities. The writer says about her activities:

“Of course, all disabled people can find their calling in life, for this they only need help to gain faith in themselves”

Christy Brown

This Irish artist became the hero of the biographical film "My left leg”, which soon after the film adaptation received an Oscar statuette. Christie is an unusual invalid, he was born mentally handicapped, and the only thing he could move was his left leg. Relatives, and especially the boy’s mother, surrounded him full of love and attention. The boy was often read fairy tales, explained the necessity of each action, and told about what was happening. Such regular work made it possible to achieve significant success in the development of the child - the disabled person became much more intelligent.

One day, Christy's little sister accidentally dropped the chalk, and the five-year-old boy, with incredible effort, picked it up and began to move it across the floor. Noticing new skills, the disabled person was immediately sent by his parents to writing and drawing lessons. Ten years later, Christy Brown achieved incredible heights - his wonderful paintings, filled with talent, were actively bought up by art connoisseurs, and interesting, instructive and motivational articles were published in the most popular newspapers in Ireland. This disabled person could control only one leg, and even then, his left one, and became a role model for even outstanding contemporary artists. This case, in addition to the power of working on oneself, also testifies to the importance of family. Disabled people should be surrounded with love and attention from childhood, and a child who has physical or mental disabilities should be developed as much as possible, spending all his free time on it.

Oscar Pistorius

Without legs, Oscar Pistorius achieved outstanding success in sports. The young man was disabled from birth, but this did not stop him from achieving his goal - to move. Through incredible work, Oscar became a track and field runner, who was even allowed to compete with completely physically capable opponents.

Now Pistorius is actively promoting sports around the world, supporting people with disabilities in their desire to engage in physical competitions, and organizing various programs in this direction. In fact, he has become the most successful disabled athlete who constantly confirms that physical problems cannot be a hindrance on the way to the desired goal.

It's no secret that in modern world There is a certain “beauty standard”. And if you want to succeed, to become famous, be kind enough to meet this standard. However, it is very pleasant that from time to time people appear who say to hell with all these standards and conventions and simply go towards their goal no matter what. Such people deserve respect.

Winnie Harlow

A professional model originally from Canada, who suffers from vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disorder associated with a lack of melanin. This disease is expressed almost exclusively in external effect and there is almost no cure. Vinny dreamed of becoming a model since childhood and persistently pursued her goal. As a result, she became the first girl in the serious modeling business with this disease.

Peter Dinklage

He is best known for his role as Tyrion Lannister in the series Game of Thrones. Dinklage was born with hereditary disease- achondroplasia, leading to dwarfism. His height is 134 cm. Despite the fact that both his parents are of average height, as is his brother Jonathan.

RJ Mitt

He is best known for his role as Walter White Jr. in the television series Breaking Bad. Like his character in Breaking Bad, Mitt suffers from childhood cerebral palsy. Due to cerebral palsy, signals reach the brain more slowly, since at birth his brain was damaged due to lack of oxygen. As a result of his musculoskeletal system and the ability to control one's muscles were impaired. For example, the hand twitches uncontrollably. However, this does not in the least prevent the 23-year-old guy from acting in films and producing films.

Henry Samuel

Better known by his pseudonym Seal. British singer and songwriter, winner of three Grammy music awards and several Brit Awards. The scars on his face are the result skin disease, known as discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). He suffered from this disease as a teenager and suffered greatly due to the scars that appeared on his face. Now the singer is sure that they give him a certain charm.

Forest Whitaker

American actor, director, producer. Winner of Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Emmy awards. He became the fourth African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor. Forest suffers from ptosis in his left eye - congenital disease oculomotor nerve. However, many critics and viewers often note that this gives it a certain mystery and charm. At the same time, the actor himself is considering the possibility of corrective surgery. True, according to his statement, the purpose of the operation is not cosmetic at all, but purely medical - ptosis worsens the field of vision and contributes to the degradation of vision itself.

Jamel Debbouze

French actor, producer, showman of Moroccan origin. In January 1990 (that is, at the age of 14), Jamel injured his hand while playing on the train tracks in the Paris metro. As a result, the arm has stopped developing and he cannot use it. Since then, he almost always keeps his right hand in his pocket. However, this does not in the least prevent him from remaining one of the most sought-after actors in France to this day.

Donald Joseph Qualls

Better known as DJ Qualls, he is an American actor and producer. Qualls' most popular role is considered main role in Edward Decter's Tough Guy. Many who see him in films cannot help but notice Qualls' unusual thinness. The reason for this is cancer. At age 14, Qualls was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphogranulomatosis ( malignancy lymphoid tissue). The treatment turned out to be quite successful, and after two years of fighting the disease, remission occurred. This episode in his life served as the beginning of DJ’s activities to support the foundation, which is fighting this disease.

Zinovy Gerdt

Magnificent Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, People's Artist USSR. In addition to his acting career, Zinovy Efimovich, like many in those days, had to engage in other, not so peaceful activities; he was a participant in the Great Patriotic War. On February 12, 1943, on the approaches to Kharkov, while clearing enemy minefields for the passage of Soviet tanks, he was seriously wounded in the leg by a fragment of a tank shell. After eleven operations, Gerdt was spared his damaged leg, which has since been 8 centimeters shorter than the healthy one and forced the artist to limp heavily. It was difficult for him to even just walk, but the actor did not slack and did not spare himself on the set.

Sylvester Stallone

A striking example of the fact that any disadvantage, if desired, can be turned into an advantage. At the birth of Sylvester, doctors, using obstetric forceps, injured him, damaging facial nerves. The result is partial paralysis of the lower left side of the face and slurred speech. It would seem that you can forget about an acting career with such problems. However, Sly still managed to break through, choosing the role of a brutal guy who doesn’t need to talk much on camera, his muscles will do everything for him.

For people who doubt own strength, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the achievements of famous disabled people. True, most people with disabilities who have achieved success can hardly be called disabled. As their inspiring stories prove, nothing can stop a person from achieving high goals, leading active life and become a role model. So let's take a look at the great people with disabilities.

Stephen Hawking

Hawking was born an absolutely healthy man. However, in his youth he was diagnosed terrible diagnosis. Doctors diagnosed Stephen with a rare pathology - amyotrophic sclerosis, which is also known as Charcot's disease.

Symptoms of the disease quickly gained momentum. Closer to reaching adulthood, our hero became almost completely paralyzed. The young man was forced to move to wheelchair. Partial mobility was preserved only in some facial muscles and individual fingers. To make his own life easier, Stephen agreed to undergo throat surgery. However, the decision only brought harm, and the guy lost the ability to reproduce sounds. From that moment on, he could communicate only thanks to an electronic speech synthesizer.

However, all this did not prevent Hawking from being included in the list of people with disabilities who have achieved success. Our hero managed to earn the status of one of the greatest scientists. This person is considered a real sage and a person who is capable of turning the most daring, fantastic ideas into reality.

These days, Stephen Hawking is active scientific activities in your own residence away from people. He devoted his life to writing books, educating the population, and popularizing science. Despite his physical handicap, this outstanding man is married and has children.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Let's continue our conversation about people with disabilities who have achieved success. Without a doubt, Beethoven, the legendary German composer of classical music, deserves a place on our list. In 1796, at the height of his world fame, the composer began to suffer from progressive hearing loss caused by inflammation of the inner ear canals. Several years passed, and Ludwig van Beethoven completely lost the ability to perceive sounds. However, it was from this time that the most famous works author.

Subsequently, the composer wrote the famous “Eroica Symphony” and captured the imagination of classical music lovers with the most complex parts from the opera “Fidelio” and the “Ninth Symphony with Chorus”. In addition, he created numerous works for quartets, cellists, and vocal performers.

Esther Vergeer

The girl has the status of the strongest tennis player on the planet, who won her titles while sitting in wheelchair. In her youth, Esther required surgery for spinal cord. Unfortunately, surgery only made the situation worse. The girl lost her legs, depriving her of the ability to move independently.

One day, while in a wheelchair, Vergeer decided to try playing tennis. The incident marked the beginning of her incredibly successful career in professional sports. The girl was awarded the title of world champion 7 times, repeatedly won high-profile victories at the Olympic Games, and won prizes in a series of Grand Slam tournaments. Moreover, Esther holds an unusual record. Since 2003, she has managed not to lose a single set during the competition. On at the moment there are more than two hundred of them.

Eric Weihenmayer

This outstanding man is the only climber in history who managed to conquer Everest while completely blind. Eric became blind at the age of 13. However, thanks to his innate focus on achieving high success, Weihenmayer first received a high-quality education, worked as a teacher, professionally engaged in wrestling, and then devoted his life to conquering mountain peaks.

An artistic film was made about the high achievements of this disabled athlete, which was called “Touch the Top of the World.” In addition to Everest, the hero climbed the seven highest peaks on the planet. In particular, Weihenmayer conquered such daunting mountains as Elbrus and Kilimanjaro.

Alexey Petrovich Maresyev

At the height of World War II, this fearless man defended the country from invaders as a military pilot. In one of the battles, Alexei Maresyev’s plane was destroyed. Miraculously, the hero managed to stay alive. However, severe injuries forced him to agree to amputation of both lower limbs.

However, receiving a disability did not bother the outstanding pilot at all. Only after leaving the military hospital did he begin to seek the right to return to aviation. The army was in dire need of talented pilots. Therefore, soon Alexei Maresyev was offered prosthetics. Thus, he made many more combat missions. For his courage and military exploits, the pilot was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

Ray Charles

Next on our list is a legendary man, an outstanding musician and one of the most celebrated jazz performers. Ray Charles began suffering from blindness at the age of 7. Presumably, this was caused by the negligence of doctors, in particular incorrect treatment glaucoma.

Subsequently, Ray began to develop his creative inclinations. Reluctance to give up allowed our hero to become the most famous blind musician of our time. At one time, this outstanding person was nominated for as many as 12 Grammy awards. His name is forever inscribed in the hall of fame of jazz, rock and roll, blues and country. In 2004, Charles was included in the top ten most talented artists of all time according to the authoritative publication Rolling Stone.

Nick Vujicic

What other people with disabilities who have achieved success deserve attention? One of these is Nick Vujicic - ordinary person, who has been suffering from a rare hereditary pathology called tetraamelia since birth. When he was born, the boy was missing his upper and lower limbs. There was only a small appendage of the foot.

In his youth, Nick was offered surgery. The purpose of the surgical intervention was to separate the fused fingers on a single process lower limb. The guy was extremely happy that he had the opportunity, at least half-heartedly, to manipulate objects and move without outside help. Inspired by the change, he learned to swim, surf and skateboard, and work on a computer.

In adulthood, Nick Vujicic got rid of past experiences associated with physical disabilities. He began traveling around the world giving lectures, motivating people to new achievements. Often a man speaks to young people who have difficulty socializing and finding the meaning of life.

Valery Fefelov

Valery Andreevich Fefelov is famous as one of the leaders of the social movement of dissidents, as well as a fighter for the recognition of the rights of people with disabilities. In 1966, while occupying the position of an electrician at one of the Soviet enterprises, this man was subjected to work injury which led to a spinal fracture. Doctors told Valery that he would remain in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. As often happens, our hero received absolutely no help from the state.

In 1978, Valery Fefelov organized the Initiative Group to protect the rights of people with disabilities throughout the entire Soviet Union. Soon social activities the organization was recognized by the authorities as such that it threatens the security of the state. A criminal case was opened against Fefelov, accusing him of resisting the policies of the country's leadership.

Fearing reprisals from the KGB, our hero was forced to move to Germany, where he was granted refugee status. Here Valery Andreevich continued to defend the interests of people with disabilities. Subsequently, he became the author of a book entitled “There are no disabled people in the USSR!”, which caused a lot of noise in society. The work of the famous human rights activist was published in English and Dutch.

Louis Braille

As a child, this man received an eye injury, which developed into severe inflammation and led to complete blindness. Louis decided not to lose heart. He devoted all his time to finding a solution that would allow visually impaired and blind people to recognize text. This is how the special Braille font was invented. Nowadays, it is widely used in institutions that rehabilitate people with disabilities.

Most recently, December 3 was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In honor of this, I would like to say about some who, despite their limited capabilities, are not offended by life. On the contrary, they take everything she gives them.

It happens that people with disabilities are much more successful than people who were born fully functional.

Why is this happening? A disabled person feels that he is cut off from society, that, unfortunately, he cannot live fully, he cannot feel the feelings that ordinary people will experience.

Of course, such people strong will . And after this, such a person begins to work hard on himself so as not to feel disadvantaged; by this, the disabled person will show society that he is also a full-fledged member of society. It’s about people like this we'll talk in this article.

Nick Vujicic

In 1982, a child with the rare tetra-amelia syndrome was born into a Serbian family. He was born without limbs, but he had a foot with two toes.

Despite the absence of limbs, Nick can swim, skateboard, type on a computer and much more. In addition, Nick is motivational speaker. He performs mainly for youth and children.

For example, when small children ask him why he doesn’t have a limb, Nick answers that he didn’t clean his room or smoked a lot.

Began his activities in 1999. From that time on, he began speaking in prisons and churches, motivating people who had fallen in spirit that nothing was lost yet.

Been to Russia several times. Nick is also the father of two boys and, more recently, two twin girls. He wrote the book “Life without Borders: The Path to an Amazingly Happy Life.”

Mark Inglis

Man born in 1959. Since childhood I dreamed of rock climbing. In 1979 he began working as a search and rescue climber in national park Aoraki.

In 1982, an accident occurs resulting in Mark and his partner Philip getting stuck in a cave due to a strong storm. The climbers stayed there 13 days waiting for salvation. During this time, Mark froze his feet. After the rescue, it was decided to amputate his legs.

But even though the climber was left without legs, this did not deprive him of his dream of conquering Everest. He had to use prosthetics to achieve his dream.

There were long preparations for this ascent. And in the end Mark conquered the most high mountain in the world. Its rise lasts 40 days. After returning home, he was personally congratulated by the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Stephen Hawking

World-famous theoretical physicist, did extensive research on the theory of black holes and the Big Bang theory. In the early 1960s, signs of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis began to appear. This later led to paralysis.

In 1963, doctors believed Hawking had two years to live. In 1985, Stephen lost the ability to speak as a result of a series of operations, but his family gave him a speech synthesizer. Despite his disability, Stephen leads an active life. In 2007, a zero-gravity flight was carried out inside an airplane.

In 1965 he married Jane Wilde. But in 1990 he divorced. And in 1995 he married his nurse. He lived with her for 11 years and divorced in 2006. From first marriage 3 children were born.

Jessica Long (Tatyana Olegovna Kirillova)

Tatyana was born in the Irkutsk region. At birth, the fibula was missing. Her mother left her in an orphanage. After that, she was adopted by the Long family from America. At 18 months, her legs had to be amputated.

She began using prosthetics to walk. Despite the absence of legs, Tatyana was involved in many sports. Since the beginning of 2002, she began training in her grandfather's pool. A year later she became the best swimmer of 2003. At the age of 12, she won three gold medals.

Long beat 18 world records 15 of them are not beaten until today. In 2013, she went to the Irkutsk region to see her biological parents.

Tatiana McFadden

Another Tatyana, also of Russian origin. Her fate has much in common with Long's. In 1989, at birth, her mother abandoned her, as a result of which Tatyana ended up in an orphanage. In 1994, she was adopted by Deborah McFadden.

The adoptive mother begins to introduce the girl to various types sports to strengthen her body. At the age of 15 he competes in the Paralympic Games in Athens.

Eric Weihenmayer

Born in 1968 in New Jersey. At the age of 13, he lost his sight. But he did not despair and worked hard on himself. He achieved great results in wrestling. He competed on behalf of his state in the championship. I was studying the following types sports: