Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits

Translator: Paola B Reviewer: Elena Montrasio

Prevoditelj: Marina Maras Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

If your life were a book

Kad bi vaš život bio knjiga,

and you were the author,

a vi njen autor,

how would you want your story to go?

kako biste željeli da se vaša priča razvija?

That's the question that changed my life forever.

To je pitanje koje mi je zauvijek promijenilo život.

Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert,

Odrastajući u vrućoj pustinji Las Vegasa,

all I wanted was to be free.

sve što sam željela je da budem slobodna.

I would daydream about traveling the world,

Sanjarila bih o putovanjima po svijetu,

living in a place where it snowed,

da živim u mjestu gdje sniježi,

and I would picture all of the stories

i zamišljala bih sve te priče

that I would go on to tell.

koje bih u budućnosti ispričala.

At the age of 19,

Kad sam imala 19 godina,

the day after I graduated high school,

dan nakon što sam završila srednju školu,

I moved to a place where it snowed

zaista sam se preselila na mjesto gdje sniježi

and I became a massage therapist.

i postala sam maser-terapeut.

With this job all I needed were my hands

Sve što mi je bilo potrebno u ovom poslu bile su moje ruke

and my massage table by my side

i stol za masažu pri ruci

and I could go anywhere.

i mogla sam se uputiti bilo gdje.

For the first time in my life,

Prvi put u živoru

I felt free, independent

osjećala sam se slobodno, samostalno

and completely in control of my life.

i kao da u potpunosti kontroliram svoj život.

That is, until my life took a detour.

To jest sve dok moj život nije naglo skrenuo s pravog puta.

I went home from work early one day

Jednog dana otišla sam ranije s posla kući,

with what I thought was the flu,

s nečim za što sam mislila da je obična gripa,

and less than 24 hours later

i manje od 24 sata kasnije

I was in the hospital

našla sam se u bolnici,

on life support

na aparatima koji su me održavali na životu,

with less than a two percent chance of living.

sa manje od 2% šanse za preživljavanje.

It wasn't until days later

Tek nekoliko dana kasnije

as I lay in a coma

dok sam ležala u komi,

that the doctors diagnosed me

doktori su mi dijagnostiicirali

with bacterial meningitis,

bakterijski meningitis,

a vaccine-preventable blood infection.

krvna infekcija koja se mogla izbjeći cijepljenjem.

Over the course of two and a half months

Tijekom sljedeća dva i pol mjeseca

I lost my spleen, my kidneys,

izgubila sam slezenu, bubrege,

the hearing in my left ear

osjetilo sluha u lijevom uhu

and both of my legs below the knee.

i obje noge ispod koljena.

When my parents wheeled me out of the hospital

Kad su me roditelji izveli iz bolnice u kolicima

I felt like I had been pieced back together

osjećala sam se kao da su me skrpali

like a patchwork doll.

poput nekakve krpene lutke sastavljene od raznih komada tkanine.

I thought the worst was over

Mislila sam da je najgore iza mene

until weeks later when I saw my new legs

sve dok tjednima kasnije nisam ugledala svoje noge

for the first time.

po prvi put.

The calves were bulky blocks of metal

Listovi su bili glomazni blokovi metala

with pipes bolted together for the ankles

sa cijevima spojenim vijcima koje su služile kao zglobovi,

and a yellow rubber foot

i žuto gumeno stopalo

with a raised rubber line from the toe to the ankle

s podignutom gumenom linijom od prsta do zgloba

to look like a vein.

kako bi izgledala kao vena.

I didn't know what to expect,

Nisam znala što očekivati,

but I wasn't expecting that.

ali nisam očekivala to.

With my mom by my side

Uz mamu

and tears streaming down our faces,

i uz suze koje su se slijevale niz naša lica,

I strapped on these chunky legs

privezala sam te zdepaste noge

and I stood up.

i ustala .

They were so painful and so confining

Toliko su mi nanosile bol i toliko su me sputavale

that all I could think was,

da je jedino o čemu sam mogla razmišljati bilo to

how am I ever going to travel the world

kako ću ikada moći putovati svijetom

in these things?

u ovome?

How was I ever going to live

Kako ću ikada moći živjeti

the life full of adventure and stories,

život pun pustolovina i priča

as I always wanted?

koji sam oduvijek željela?

And how was I going to snowboard again?

I kako ću ponovno snowboardati?

That day, I went home, I crawled into bed

Tog dana otišla sam kući, uvukla se u krevet

and this is what my life looked like

i tako je moj život izgledao

for the next few months:

nekoliko narednih mjeseci:

me passed out, escaping from reality,

u nesvjestici, u bijegu od stvarnosti,

with my legs resting by my side.

uz noge odložene pokraj mene.

I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken.

Bila sam fizički i emocionalno potpuno slomljena.

But I knew that in order to move forward,

Ali znala sam, ako želim ići naprijed,

I had to let go of the old Amy

moram pustiti staru Amy

and learn to embrace the new Amy.

i naučiti prihvatiti novu Amy.

And that is when it dawned on me

I tada mi je svanulo

that I didn't have to be five-foot-five anymore.

da više ne moram biti samo 165 cm visoka.

I could be as tall as I wanted!

Mogu biti visoka koliko želim!

(Laughter) (Applause)

(Smijeh) (Pljesak)

Or as short as I wanted, depending on who I was dating.

Ili niska koliko želim, ovisno o tome s kime hodam.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And if I snowboarded again,

I ako ponovno počnem snowboardati,

my feet aren't going to get cold.

neće mi biti hladno nogama.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And best of all, I thought,

I, mislila sam, što je najbolje od svega,

I can make my feet the size of all the shoes

mogu mijenjati veličinu svojih stopala prema veličini cipela

that are on the sales rack. (Laughter)

koje se nalaze na rasprodaji. (Smijeh)

And I did!

I to sam i napravila!

So there were benefits here.

Tako da je bilo i prednosti.

It was this moment that I asked myself

Tada sam si postavila

that life-defining question:

pitanje koje mi je odredilo cijeli život:

If my life were a book

Da je moj život knjiga

and I were the author,

i da sam ja njen autor,

how would I want the story to go?

kako bih htjela da se ta priča razvija?

And I began to daydream.

I počela sam sanjariti.

I daydreamed like I did as a little girl

Sanjarila sam kao onda kad sam bila mala djevojčica

and I imagined myself

i vidjela sam se

walking gracefully,

kako graciozno hodam,

helping other people through my journey

kako pomažem drugim ljudima na svom putu

and snowboarding again.

i kako ponovno snowboardam.

And I didn't just see myself

I nisam se vidjela

carving down a mountain of powder,

kako se usijecam niz planinu praha,

I could actually feel it.

već sam mogla sve uistinu osjetiti.

I could feel the wind against my face

Mogla sam osjetiti vjetar na svom licu

and the beat of my racing heart

i otkucaje svog ubrzanog srca

as if it were happening in that very moment.

kao da se to događa upravo u tom trenutku.

And that is when a new chapter in my life began.

I tada je započelo novo poglavlje u mom životu.

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard,

Četiri mjeseca kasnije bila sam ponovno na snowboardu,

although things didn't go quite as expected:

iako nije sve išlo kako sam očekivala:

My knees and my ankles wouldn't bend

Koljena i zglobovi se nisu savijali

and at one point I traumatized all the skiers on the chair lift

a jednom sam čak traumatizirala sve skijaše na ski liftu

when I fell and my legs,

kada sam pala i kada su moje noge

still attached to my snowboard —

još uvijek zakačene za snowboard —

(Laughter) —

(Smijeh) —

went flying down the mountain,

nastavile letjeti niz planinu

and I was on top of the mountain still.

dok sam ja još uvijek bila na vrhu planine.

I was so shocked,

Bila sam toliko šokirana,

I was just as shocked as everybody else, and I was so discouraged,

bila sam šokirana poput svih ostalih, i bila sam potpuno obeshrabrena,

but I knew that if I could find the right pair of feet

ali znala sam da ću, ako nađem pravi par stopala,

that I would be able to do this again.

biti u stanju sve to ponovno raditi.

And this is when I learned that our borders

I tada sam naučila da nam naše granice

and our obstacles can only do two things:

i naše prepreke mogu učiniti samo dvije stvari:

one, stop us in our tracks

jedan, zaustaviti nas na našem putu

or two, force us to get creative.

ili dva, prisiliti nas da postanemo kreativni.

I did a year of research, still couldn't figure out

Godinu dana sam istraživala i nisam mogla dokučiti

what kind of legs to use,

kakvu vrstu nogu koristiti,

couldn't find any resources that could help me.

nisam mogla pronaći izvore koji bi mi mogli pomoći.

So I decided to make a pair myself.

Pa sam odlučila sama napraviti par nogu.

My leg maker and I put random parts together

Moj prostetičar i ja smo nasumično sastavljali dijelove

and we made a pair of feet that I could snowboard in.

i napravili par nogu s kojim sam mogla snowboardati.

As you can see,

Kao što možete vidjeti,

rusted bolts, rubber, wood and neon pink duct tape.

zahrđali vijci, guma, drvo i neonsko roza ljepljiva traka.

And yes, I can change my toenail polish.

I da, mogu mijenjati lak na nogama.

It was these legs

Ove noge

and the best 21st birthday gift I could ever receive —

i najbolji dar koji sam mogla dobiti za 21. rođendan —

a new kidney from my dad —

novi bubreg od oca —

that allowed me to follow my dreams again.

omogućili su mi da ponovno slijedim svoje snove.

I started snowboarding,

Počela sam snowboardati,

then I went back to work, then I went back to school.

vratila sam se na posao, vratila sam se u školu.

Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization

Onda sam 2005. godine suosnovala neprofitnu organizaciju

for youth and young adults with physical disabilities

za mladež i mlađe odrasle osobe s fizičkim invaliditetom

so they could get involved with action sports.

kako bi se oni mogli baviti ekstremnim sportovima.

From there, I had the opportunity to go to South Africa,

Otada sam imala priliku ići u Južnu Afriku,

where I helped to put shoes on thousands of children's feet

gdje sam pomogla obuti tisuće dječjih nožica

so they could attend school.

kako bi djeca mogla pohađati školu.

And just this past February,

I baš prošlu veljaču

I won two back-to-back World Cup gold medals —

sam osvojila dvije uzastopne zlatne medalje na Svjetskom prvenstvu —

(Applause) —

(Pljesak) —

which made me

i tako sam postala

the highest ranked adaptive female snowboarder

najbolje rangirana snowboarderica s invaliditetom

in the world.

na svijetu.

Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs,

Prije jedanaest godina, kada sam izgubila obje noge,

I had no idea what to expect.

nisam znala što očekivati.

But if you ask me today,

Ali kada biste me pitali danas,

if I would ever want to change my situation,

da li bih ikada htjela promijeniti svoju situaciju,

I would have to say no.

rekla bih ne.

Because my legs haven't disabled me,

Jer me moje noge nisu onesposobile,

if anything they've enabled me.

već su me osposobile.

They've forced me to rely on my imagination

Prisilile su me da se oslanjam na svoju maštu

and to believe in the possibilities,

i da vjerujem u mogućnosti,

and that's why I believe

i zato vjerujem

that our imaginations can be used as tools

da se naša mašta može koristiti kao alat

for breaking through borders,

za probijanje granica,

because in our minds, we can do anything

jer u svojim glavama možemo učiniti sve

and we can be anything.

i možemo biti sve.

It's believing in those dreams

Upravo vjera u te snove

and facing our fears head-on

i izravno suočavanje s našim strahovima

that allows us to live our lives

omogućava nam da živimo svoje živote

beyond our limits.

preko naših ograničenja.

And although today is about innovation without borders,

I iako je današnjica obilježena inovacijom bez granica,

I have to say that in my life,

moram reći da je u mom životu

innovation has only been possible

inovacija bila moguća

because of my borders.

upravo zbog mojih granica.

I've learned that borders are where the actual ends,

Naučila sam da su granice mjesta gdje 'stvarno' završava

but also where the imagination

ali gdje mašta

and the story begins.

i priča počinju.

So the thought that I would like to challenge you with today

I misao kojom bih vas htjela potaknuti na razmišljanje danas

is that maybe instead of looking at our challenges and our limitations

jest ta da umjesto na svoje izazove i svoja ograničenja gledamo kao na nešto

as something negative or bad,

negativno ili loše,

we can begin to look at them as blessings,

možemo početi gledati na njih kao na blagoslov,

magnificent gifts that can be used to ignite our imaginations

veličanstvene darove koji se mogu koristiti da zapale našu maštu

and help us go further than we ever knew we could go.

i pomognu nam da odemo dalje nego što smo ikada znali da možemo ići.

It's not about breaking down borders.

Tu se ne radi o rušenju granica.

It's about pushing off of them

Radi se o odguravanju o te granice

and seeing what amazing places

i uviđavanju koja nam sva predivna mjesta

they might bring us.

one mogu donijeti.

Thank you.

Hvala.