Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits

Translator: Paola B Reviewer: Elena Montrasio

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Mile Živković

If your life were a book

Kada bi vaš život bio knjiga

and you were the author,

a vi autor,

how would you want your story to go?

kako biste želeli da se priča odvija?

That's the question that changed my life forever.

To je pitanje koje je zauvek promenilo moj život.

Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert,

Odrastajući u vreloj pustinji Las Vegasa,

all I wanted was to be free.

sve što sam želela je da budem slobodna.

I would daydream about traveling the world,

Sanjarila sam o proputovanju sveta,

living in a place where it snowed,

životu na mestu gde pada sneg,

and I would picture all of the stories

i zamišljala bih sve priče

that I would go on to tell.

koje bih nastavila da pričam.

At the age of 19,

U 19. godini,

the day after I graduated high school,

dana nakon što sam završila srednju školu,

I moved to a place where it snowed

preselila sam se u mesto gde je padao sneg

and I became a massage therapist.

i postala sam fizioterapeut.

With this job all I needed were my hands

Sve što mi je trebalo na ovom poslu bile su moje ruke

and my massage table by my side

i sto za masažu pri ruci

and I could go anywhere.

i mogla sam da idem bilo kuda.

For the first time in my life,

Prvi put u svom životu,

I felt free, independent

osećala sam se slobodno, nezavisno

and completely in control of my life.

i potpuno u kontroli nad svojim životom.

That is, until my life took a detour.

To jest, dok se u mom životu nije dogodio preokret.

I went home from work early one day

Išla sam ranije kući sa posla jednog dana

with what I thought was the flu,

sa nečim za šta sam mislila da je grip,

and less than 24 hours later

i manje od 24 sata kasnije

I was in the hospital

bila sam u bolnici

on life support

na aparatima

with less than a two percent chance of living.

sa manje od dva procenta šanse za preživljavanje.

It wasn't until days later

Tek danima kasnije,

as I lay in a coma

dok sam ležala u komi,

that the doctors diagnosed me

doktori su mi dijagnostikovali

with bacterial meningitis,

bakterijski meningitis,

a vaccine-preventable blood infection.

infekciju krvi koja se može sprečiti vakcinacijom.

Over the course of two and a half months

Za dva i po meseca

I lost my spleen, my kidneys,

izgubila sam svoju slezinu, bubrege,

the hearing in my left ear

sluh na levom uhu

and both of my legs below the knee.

i obe noge ispod kolena.

When my parents wheeled me out of the hospital

Kada su me roditelji izveli iz bolnice u kolicima,

I felt like I had been pieced back together

osećala sam se kao da sam ponovo skrpljena

like a patchwork doll.

kao krpena lutka.

I thought the worst was over

Mislila sam da je najgore prošlo

until weeks later when I saw my new legs

dok nisam nedeljama kasnije videla svoje nove noge

for the first time.

prvi put.

The calves were bulky blocks of metal

Listovi su bili glomazni blokovi metala

with pipes bolted together for the ankles

sa cevima pričvršćenim za članke

and a yellow rubber foot

i žuto gumeno stopalo

with a raised rubber line from the toe to the ankle

sa podignutom gumenom linijom od prsta do članka

to look like a vein.

da izgleda kao vena.

I didn't know what to expect,

Nisam znala šta da očekujem,

but I wasn't expecting that.

ali to nisam očekivala.

With my mom by my side

Sa mamom pokraj mene

and tears streaming down our faces,

i suzama koje su se slivale sa naših lica,

I strapped on these chunky legs

privezala sam te kabaste noge

and I stood up.

i ustala sam.

They were so painful and so confining

Bile su tako bolne i tako sputavajuće

that all I could think was,

da je jedino o čemu sam mogla da razmišljam bilo

how am I ever going to travel the world

kako ću ikada moći da putujem svetom

in these things?

u ovim stvarima?

How was I ever going to live

Kako ću ikada moći da živim

the life full of adventure and stories,

život pun avantura i priča,

as I always wanted?

kakav sam oduvek želela?

And how was I going to snowboard again?

I kako ću moći da ponovo vozim snoubord?

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 ovako je moj život izgledao

for the next few months:

narednih nekoliko meseci:

me passed out, escaping from reality,

ja onesvešćena, bežeći od stvarnosti,

with my legs resting by my side.

sa nogama odloženim kraj mene.

I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken.

Bila sam apsolutno fizički i emotivno slomljena.

But I knew that in order to move forward,

Ali sam znala, da bih nastavila dalje,

I had to let go of the old Amy

morala sam da pustim staru Ejmi

and learn to embrace the new Amy.

i da naučim da prigrlim novu Ejmi.

And that is when it dawned on me

I tada mi je sinulo

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

da ne moram više da imam 165 cm.

I could be as tall as I wanted!

Mogu da budem visoka koliko želim!

(Laughter) (Applause)

(Smeh) (Aplauz)

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

Ili niska onoliko koliko želim, u zavisnosti od toga sa kim se zabavljam.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And if I snowboarded again,

I ako se budem bavila snoubordom,

my feet aren't going to get cold.

moja stopala se neće smrznuti.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And best of all, I thought,

I što je najbolje od svega, pomislila sam,

I can make my feet the size of all the shoes

mogu da učinim da moja stopala budu veličine svih cipela

that are on the sales rack. (Laughter)

koje su na rafu za rasprodaju. (Smeh)

And I did!

I jesam!

So there were benefits here.

Dakle tu je bilo prednosti.

It was this moment that I asked myself

U ovom trenutku sam postavila sebi

that life-defining question:

to pitanje koje određuje život:

If my life were a book

Kada bi moj život bio knjiga

and I were the author,

a ja autor,

how would I want the story to go?

kako bih želela da se priča odvija?

And I began to daydream.

I počela sam da sanjarim.

I daydreamed like I did as a little girl

Sanjarila sam kao što sam to činila kao devojčica

and I imagined myself

i zamislila sam sebe

walking gracefully,

kako graciozno hodam,

helping other people through my journey

pomažući drugim ljudima na svom putu

and snowboarding again.

i ponovo vozeći snoubord.

And I didn't just see myself

I nisam samo videla sebe

carving down a mountain of powder,

kako oblikujem planinu posutu prahom,

I could actually feel it.

mogla sam to zaista i da osetim.

I could feel the wind against my face

Mogla sam da osetim vetar na svom licu

and the beat of my racing heart

i otkucaje mog ubrzanog srca

as if it were happening in that very moment.

kao da se odigravaju upravo u tom trenutku.

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

I tada je otpočelo novo poglavlje u mom životu.

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard,

Četiri meseca kasnije bila sam ponovo na snoubordu,

although things didn't go quite as expected:

mada stvari nisu proticale baš kao što sam očekivala:

My knees and my ankles wouldn't bend

moja kolena i članci se nisu savijali

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

i u jednom trenutku sam istraumirala sve skijaše na ski liftu

when I fell and my legs,

kada sam pala i moje noge,

still attached to my snowboard —

još uvek zakačene za moj snoubord -

(Laughter) —

(Smeh) -

went flying down the mountain,

su poletele niz planinu,

and I was on top of the mountain still.

a ja sam još uvek bila na vrhu planine.

I was so shocked,

Bila sam tako šokirana,

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

bila sam isto tako šokirana kao i svi ostali, i bila sam tako obeshrabrena,

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

ali sam znala da, ako bih pronašla pravi par stopala,

that I would be able to do this again.

bila bih u stanju da to uradim ponovo.

And this is when I learned that our borders

I tada sam naučila da naše granice

and our obstacles can only do two things:

i naše prepreke mogu učiniti samo dve stvari:

one, stop us in our tracks

prvo, zaustaviti nas na našem putu

or two, force us to get creative.

ili drugo, naterati nas da postanemo kreativni.

Godinu dana sam istraživala, i dalje nisam mogla da otkrijem

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

what kind of legs to use,

kakvu vrstu nogu da koristim,

nisam mogla da pronađem nikakve izvore koji bi mi pomogli.

couldn't find any resources that could help me.

So I decided to make a pair myself.

Tako da sam odlučila da sama napravim par.

My leg maker and I put random parts together

Moj izrađivač nogu i ja smo nasumično sastavljali delove

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

i napravili smo par stopala u kojima bih mogla da vozim snoubord.

As you can see,

Kao što možete videti,

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

zarđali šrafovi, guma, drvo i drečavo rozi selotejp.

And yes, I can change my toenail polish.

I da, mogu da pomenim svoj lak za nokte na nogama.

It was these legs

Ove noge

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

i najbolji poklon za 21. rođendan koji sam ikada mogla da dobijem -

a new kidney from my dad —

novi bubreg od mog tate -

that allowed me to follow my dreams again.

su mi omogućili da ponovo sledim svoje snove.

I started snowboarding,

Počela sam da vozim snoubord,

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

onda sam se vratila na posao, zatim sam se vratila 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 omladinu i mlađe odrasle osobe sa fizičkim invaliditetom

so they could get involved with action sports.

kako bi se oni mogli uključiti u aktivnim sportovima.

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

Otuda sam imala priliku da odem u Južnu Afriku,

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

gde sam pomogla da se obuju hiljade dečijih stopala

so they could attend school.

da bi ona mogla da pohađaju školu.

And just this past February,

I baš ovog proteklog februara,

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

osvojila sam dve uzastopne zlatne medalje na Svetskom prvenstvu -

(Applause) —

(Aplauz) -

which made me

čime sam postala

the highest ranked adaptive female snowboarder

snouborderka sa pomagalima najvišeg ranga

in the world.

na svetu.

Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs,

Pre jedanaest godina, kada sam izgubila svoje noge,

I had no idea what to expect.

nisam imala pojma šta da očekujem.

But if you ask me today,

Ali ako me pitate danas

da li bih ikada želela da promenim svoju situaciju,

if I would ever want to change my situation,

I would have to say no.

morala bih da kažem ne.

Because my legs haven't disabled me,

Jer me moje noge nisu onesposobile,

if anything they've enabled me.

čak se može reći da su me osposobile.

They've forced me to rely on my imagination

Naterale su me da se oslanjam na svoju maštu

and to believe in the possibilities,

i da verujem u mogućnosti,

and that's why I believe

i zato verujem

that our imaginations can be used as tools

da naša mašta može biti korišćena kao oruđe

for breaking through borders,

za probijanje granica,

because in our minds, we can do anything

jer u našim umovima, možemo da uradimo sve

and we can be anything.

i možemo da budemo bilo šta.

It's believing in those dreams

Verovanje u te snove

and facing our fears head-on

i direktno suočavanje sa našim strahovima

that allows us to live our lives

je ono što nam omogućava da živimo naše živote

beyond our limits.

izvan naših ograničenja.

And although today is about innovation without borders,

I iako je danas tema inovacija bez granica,

I have to say that in my life,

moram da kažem da u mom životu,

innovation has only been possible

inovacija je jedino bila moguća

because of my borders.

zbog mojih granica.

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

Naučila sam da su granice tamo gde se ono što je stvarno završava,

but also where the imagination

ali takođe gde mašta

and the story begins.

i priča započinju.

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

Misao kojom bih volela da vas danas izazovem

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

je možda da umesto da gledamo naše izazove i ograničenja

as something negative or bad,

kao nešto negativno ili loše,

we can begin to look at them as blessings,

možemo da počnemo da ih posmatramo kao blagoslove,

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.

It's not about breaking down borders.

Ne radi se o rušenju granica.

It's about pushing off of them

Reč je o odbijanju od njih

and seeing what amazing places

i uviđanju kakva neverovatna mesta

they might bring us.

nam mogu doneti.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.