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Aimee Mullins is an athlete, fashion model, and actor. But there’s something a little bit unusual about her: Mullins was born without fibulas (lower leg bones), and had her legs amputated below the knee as an infant. She wears prosthetic legs — some lifelike and some enhanced for sports performance. In a February TED Talk, Mullins shows off twelve pairs of her legs — and walks around the stage wearing high heels the whole time.
This is a pretty amazing talk. A word of warning, there is brief nudity depicted in one still image during the talk (a shot of Mullins in cheetah makeup for a movie). Check it out:
If you want to learn more about Mullins’s athletic experience, check out her talk about running from 1998 (when she as a college senior).
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I’m always amazed to see photos of her. First saw her in the Matthew Barney movie, it’s amazing to see her balancing and walking around on those dainty cheetah paws.
posted by IM on 3-11-2009 at 5:51 pm
She’s the type of person I’d like to have as a friend. I think she’d be totally down to earth and laid back. Not to mention, she can walk in heels with NO pain!! A little bit of jealousy here…
posted by Tricia on 3-11-2009 at 5:52 pm
It’s amazing to me to see the courage of the disabled. My father is legally blind, and only has very limited peripheral vision. This hasn’t stopped him, however, from achieving his 3rd degree black belt in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. Seeing something like this simultaneously breaks my heart and makes me smile. Well done.
posted by Cassie on 3-11-2009 at 6:34 pm
@Cassie:
I don’t see it as courage, especially for those of us born with a disability or who became disabled at a young age. It’s no different than a normal person trying things out to see what she/he is able to do. We try new things until we find something we can’t do, then we either find a way around it, or look for alternatives. I think ingenuity plays a bigger role than courage.
posted by nutmeag on 3-11-2009 at 7:41 pm
My sister is disabled, she has cerebral palsy. Part of her life has been what would be considered normal for a person with her disabilities, however part of it aslo courage. She has to face people that judge her everyday, or do not believe in her ability to lead a normal life. She even has recieved prejudice from teachers and teacher aids she has had in the past.
Whatever the case, she is brilliant, brave and my hero.
posted by Jennfier on 3-12-2009 at 9:34 am
Those wooden legs are awesome. I think that’s an awesome idea: turning prosthetics into works of art. If I ever needed a prosthetic limb, I’d pay someone to make me a steampunk or clockwork-styled limb.
posted by Craig on 3-12-2009 at 11:47 am
Thank you Jennifer, that’s what I was getting to. Nutmeag, I understand where you’re coming from, but my father wasn’t blind his whole life. His left eye “went” in ‘89, when he was 37, and his right eye “went” in ‘92, when he was 40. It was a difficult adjustment for him, and it took a hell of a lot of courage to not wallow in self pity and to put a brave face on for his family. If you saw him, you wouldn’t even know he’s blind, he’s adjusted so well.
Courageous as all that is, there’s still more. His remaining good eye “went” on a drive home from a business trip, when he was at the start of his (normally) two hour jaunt. My brave father was lucky enough to be able to follow a sixteen wheeler almost all the way home, which took him four hours instead of the normal two. And he kept his composure and reserved his breakdown for when he returned home that night, where he cried until he could produce no more tears. And that was, and is, the one and only time he’s ever shed a tear over it.
If that’s not courage, I don’t know what is. Jennifer, I completely understand the “hero” part.
posted by Cassie on 3-16-2009 at 7:33 pm