Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits

Translator: Paola B Reviewer: Elena Montrasio

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Yi-Ting Chung

If your life were a book

如果你的人生是一本書，

and you were the author,

而你是作者，

how would you want your story to go?

你希望故事如何發展？

That's the question that changed my life forever.

這個問題改變了我的一生。

Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert,

在炎熱的拉斯維加斯沙漠長大的我，

all I wanted was to be free.

唯一想要的就是自由。

I would daydream about traveling the world,

我會想像自己去環遊世界，

living in a place where it snowed,

住在下雪的地方，

and I would picture all of the stories

我會編織各種故事，

that I would go on to tell.

在日後娓娓道來。

At the age of 19,

我在 19 歲從高中畢業的隔天，

the day after I graduated high school,

I moved to a place where it snowed

搬到一個會下雪的地方，

開始當起按摩師。

and I became a massage therapist.

With this job all I needed were my hands

做這份工作，

我只需要有雙手和按摩桌在身邊，

and my massage table by my side

and I could go anywhere.

就能去任何地方。

For the first time in my life,

那是我生命中第一次

I felt free, independent

感到自由、獨立，

and completely in control of my life.

並且完全掌控自己的生活。

That is, until my life took a detour.

直到我的生命出現轉折。

I went home from work early one day

有天我提早收工回家，

with what I thought was the flu,

原以為自己染上流感，

and less than 24 hours later

結果不到 24 小時，

I was in the hospital

我就住進醫院，

裝上維生系統，

on life support

只有不到 2% 的存活率。

with less than a two percent chance of living.

It wasn't until days later

幾天後，

as I lay in a coma

我就全身癱瘓，

that the doctors diagnosed me

醫生診斷我罹患了

with bacterial meningitis,

細菌性腦膜炎，

a vaccine-preventable blood infection.

一種能靠注射疫苗預防的血液感染。

Over the course of two and a half months

經過兩個半月的療程，

I lost my spleen, my kidneys,

我喪失了脾臟和腎臟，

the hearing in my left ear

還有左耳聽力，

and both of my legs below the knee.

雙腳膝蓋以下也截肢了。

父母用輪椅將我推出醫院時，

When my parents wheeled me out of the hospital

I felt like I had been pieced back together

我感覺自己像是用碎片

like a patchwork doll.

拼湊而成的娃娃。

I thought the worst was over

我以為最糟的情況已經結束了，

until weeks later when I saw my new legs

但幾週後我第一次看到自己的雙腳，

for the first time.

才發現並非如此。

The calves were bulky blocks of metal

小腿變成又粗又重的金屬塊，

with pipes bolted together for the ankles

跟管子和腳踝拴在一起，

and a yellow rubber foot

還有個泛黃的橡膠腳，

with a raised rubber line from the toe to the ankle

上面有條突起的橡膠線 從腳趾延伸至腳踝，

to look like a vein.

為了看起來像條血管。

I didn't know what to expect,

我不知道未來會發生什麼事，

but I wasn't expecting that.

但我沒想到會發生這種事。

With my mom by my side

我媽在我身旁，

and tears streaming down our faces,

淚水從我倆的臉龐落下，

I strapped on these chunky legs

我綁上這雙粗重的腳，

and I stood up.

站起身來。

They were so painful and so confining

如此劇烈的疼痛和緊繃

that all I could think was,

讓我不得不想，

how am I ever going to travel the world

我要怎麼戴著這些東西環遊世界？

in these things?

How was I ever going to live

我要怎麼繼續擁有

the life full of adventure and stories,

那個我從小就夢寐以求的，

as I always wanted?

充滿冒險和故事的生活？

And how was I going to snowboard again?

我要怎麼再次站上滑雪板？

That day, I went home, I crawled into bed

那天回到家後，我爬上床，

and this is what my life looked like

這是我之後幾個月的生活樣貌：

for the next few months:

me passed out, escaping from reality,

渾渾噩噩，逃避現實，

with my legs resting by my side.

雙腳就放在一旁。

I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken.

我的身心都已支離破碎。

But I knew that in order to move forward,

但我知道要向前邁進，

I had to let go of the old Amy

就得放下以前的艾咪，

and learn to embrace the new Amy.

學習擁抱新的艾咪。

And that is when it dawned on me

那一刻我才發現，

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

我的身高不再得是一六五，

I could be as tall as I wanted!

我想要多高就可以多高！

（笑聲）

(Laughter) (Applause)

（掌聲）

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

我也可以想要多矮就多矮， 看約會對象是誰再決定。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And if I snowboarded again,

如果我再去滑雪，

my feet aren't going to get cold.

腳就不會覺得冷了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And best of all, I thought,

最棒的是我想

I can make my feet the size of all the shoes

我可以把自己的腳做成

鞋店特價區裡的鞋子尺寸。（笑聲）

that are on the sales rack. (Laughter)

And I did!

我真的這麼做了！

So there were benefits here.

看來還是有點好處。

It was this moment that I asked myself

就在這個時刻我自問

that life-defining question:

那個定義人生的問題：

If my life were a book

如果我的人生是一本書，

and I were the author,

而我是作者，

how would I want the story to go?

我希望故事怎麼發展？

And I began to daydream.

我開始幻想。

I daydreamed like I did as a little girl

像我孩提時那樣，

and I imagined myself

想像自己

walking gracefully,

優雅行進，

用自己的歷程幫助別人，

helping other people through my journey

and snowboarding again.

並且再次滑雪。

我不是只看見自己

And I didn't just see myself

割雪滑過山上的粉雪，

carving down a mountain of powder,

I could actually feel it.

我真的能感覺得到。

I could feel the wind against my face

我可以感覺到吹拂在臉上的風，

and the beat of my racing heart

還有飛快的心跳，

as if it were happening in that very moment.

就像身歷其境一般。

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

那是我人生開啟新篇章的時刻。

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard,

四個月後，我重新站上滑雪板，

although things didn't go quite as expected:

雖然情況不如想像中美好：

My knees and my ankles wouldn't bend

我的膝蓋和腳踝無法彎曲，

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

一度在纜車上的滑雪客 心中留下陰影，

when I fell and my legs,

因為我跌倒的時候，

雙腳還黏在滑雪板上，

still attached to my snowboard —

(Laughter) —

（笑聲）

went flying down the mountain,

整個飛下山嶺，

and I was on top of the mountain still.

身體卻還在山上。

I was so shocked,

我很驚訝，

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

就跟每個人一樣驚訝，我好挫折，

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

但我知道如果能找到對的那雙腳，

我就能再次滑雪。

that I would be able to do this again.

And this is when I learned that our borders

就是這個時候，我了解到

限制和阻礙只會影響兩件事：

and our obstacles can only do two things:

one, stop us in our tracks

第一，終止我們的習慣，

or two, force us to get creative.

第二，強迫我們發揮創意。

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

我研究了一年，至今仍無法找出

what kind of legs to use,

要用哪一種腳，

couldn't find any resources that could help me.

無法找到任何能幫助我的資源。

So I decided to make a pair myself.

因此我決定自己做一雙腳。

My leg maker and I put random parts together

製腳師和我任意組裝零件，

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

最後完成了一雙讓我能滑雪的腳。

As you can see,

你可以看到，

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

生鏽的螺絲、橡皮、木頭和粉紅布膠帶。

And yes, I can change my toenail polish.

沒錯，我還能換不同的指甲油。

It was these legs

這些腳

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

和最棒的 21 歲生日禮物，

a new kidney from my dad —

也就是爸爸捐給我的一顆腎，

that allowed me to follow my dreams again.

讓我能再次追尋我的夢想。

I started snowboarding,

我開始站上雪板滑雪，

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

接著回去工作、回到校園。

Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization

2005 年時我合夥創辦非營利組織，

for youth and young adults with physical disabilities

幫助有肢體障礙的青少年，

so they could get involved with action sports.

讓他們能參與極限運動。

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

我在那裡得到前往南非的機會，

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

可以去幫助成千上萬名孩童 讓他們有鞋穿

so they could attend school.

好去上學。

And just this past February,

今年二月，

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

我接連贏得兩面世界盃金牌，

(Applause) —

（掌聲）

which made me

這讓我成為

the highest ranked adaptive female snowboarder

世界頂尖的女性身障滑雪板員。

in the world.

Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs,

我 11 年前失去雙腳的時候，

I had no idea what to expect.

完全沒想到會有這件事。

But if you ask me today,

但如果你今天問我，

是否曾想過要改變處境，

if I would ever want to change my situation,

I would have to say no.

我會說不。

Because my legs haven't disabled me,

因為我的雙腳從未讓我失能，

if anything they've enabled me.

反而賦予我能力。

They've forced me to rely on my imagination

我的腳迫使我仰賴想像力，

and to believe in the possibilities,

讓我相信一切都有希望，

and that's why I believe

因此我相信

that our imaginations can be used as tools

我們的想像力能夠成為工具，

for breaking through borders,

用來打破藩籬，

because in our minds, we can do anything

因為在我們心中，我們能做任何事，

and we can be anything.

能成為各種人。

It's believing in those dreams

是因為相信那些夢想，

and facing our fears head-on

正視迎面而來的恐懼，

that allows us to live our lives

讓每個人能活出自我，

beyond our limits.

超越極限。

And although today is about innovation without borders,

雖然今天的主題是關於創新無界線，

I have to say that in my life,

但我得說在我的生活中

innovation has only been possible

創新能實現

because of my borders.

正是因為我的限制。

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

我一直以為限制就是真正的盡頭，

but also where the imagination

但其實限制是想像力與故事的開端。

and the story begins.

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

今天我想挑戰你們的觀點就是

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

與其把我們的挑戰和限制

as something negative or bad,

視為某種負面或不好的事，

we can begin to look at them as blessings,

我們可以開始將這些事視為祝福，

magnificent gifts that can be used to ignite our imaginations

是能點燃想像力的珍貴禮物，

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

幫助我們不再畫地自限，走得更遠。

It's not about breaking down borders.

這並不是指要打破限制，

It's about pushing off of them

而是要跳脫限制，

and seeing what amazing places

看限制能帶我們到什麼好地方去。

they might bring us.

Thank you.

謝謝。