and you were the author

你是書的作者

how would you want your story to go.

你會怎麼寫你的故事？

That's the question that changed my life forever.

這個問題永遠改變了我的一生

Growing up in a

生長在

hot Las Vegas desert

拉斯維加斯的炎熱沙漠

all I wanted was to be free.

我一直嚮往自由

I would daydream

我做著白日夢

about traveling the world

夢想周遊世界

living in a place where it snowed

住在能看見雪的地方

and I would picture all of the stories that I would go on to tell.

編我想講述的所有故事

At the age of nineteen,

19歲那年

the day after I graduated high school,

在我從高中畢業後

I moved to a place where it snowed

我搬到了能見到雪的地方

and I became

我成為

a massage therapist.

一名按摩師

With this job all I needed were my hands and my massage table by my side.

這份工作只需要雙手以及身邊的按摩桌

And I could go anywhere.

而且我可以去任何地方

For the first time in my life

有生以來頭一次

I felt free,

我感到自由

independent

獨立

and completely in control of my life.

完全掌控了我的生命

That is

直到

until my life took a detour.

人生出現了一個轉折

I went home from work early one day

一天我下班比往常早

with what I thought was a flu

以為自己得了流感

and less than twenty-four hours later

24小時不到

I was in a hospital

我就進了醫院

on life support

生命垂危

with less than a 2% chance of living

只有2%的可能性挺過去

It wasn't until days later

之後的幾天

as I lay in a coma

我陷入昏迷

that the doctors diagnosed me

醫生診斷我得了

with bacterial meningitis.

細菌性腦膜炎

A vaccine preventable blood infection.

疫苗可預防性血液感染

Over the course of two-and-a-half months

在為期兩個半月的治療中

I lost my spleen

我切除了脾

my kidneys

腎

the hearing in my left ear

左耳失聰

and both of my legs below the knee.

膝蓋以下截肢

When my parents

當父母

wheeled me out of the hospital

把我推出醫院時

I felt like I'd been pieced back together

我感到自己被重新拼湊起來

like a patch-work doll.

像一個拼布娃娃

I thought the worst was over

我以為最慘的事已完結

until weeks later when I saw my new legs for the first time.

直到我第一次見到 自己的新腿

The calves were bulky blocks of metal

小腿是笨重的金屬塊

with pipes folded together for the ankles

腳踝用管子和螺絲固定

and a yellow rubber foot

外加黃色的橡膠腳

with a raised rubber line

突起的橡膠線

from the toes to the ankle

從腳趾延伸到腳踝

to look like a vein.

為了看起來像血管

I didn't know what to expect but i wasn't expecting that.

我不知道我想要的結果是甚麼 但絕不會是這個

With my mom by my side

媽媽站在我旁邊

and tears streaming down our faces

兩個人淚水肆意

I strapped on these chunky legs

我綁上這兩條粗短腿

and I stood up.

然後站起來

They were so painful

這十分痛苦

and so confining

侷限

that all I cound think was --

我腦子裡只有一個想法：

how am I ever going to travel the world on these things.

用這些破玩意我怎麼能環遊世界？

How was I ever going to live

我如何才能過

the life full of adventure

個充滿冒險

and stories as I always wanted

與故事的生活 那個我一直想要的人生

and how was I going to snowboard again.

我如何才能再玩滑雪板？

That day I went home, I crawled into bed

那天 我回到家 爬上床

and this is what my life looked like for the next few months.

這是我接下來幾個月的生活生活狀態

Me pass out,

我淡出生活

escaping from reality,

逃離現實

with my legs resting by my side.

我的腿落在旁邊

I was absolutely

我在

physically

生理上

and emotionally

和心理上

broken.

完全崩潰了

But

但是

I knew that in order to move forward

我知道 為了向前看

I had to let go

我必須丟掉

of the old Amy

曾經的艾米

and learn to embrace

並學著接受

the new Amy.

新的艾米

And that's when it dawned on me

那時 我突然想到

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

我再也不只有5.5英尺高了

I could be as tall as I wanted. (Laughter)

我可以想多高有多高（笑聲）

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

或者想多矮有多矮 這得看我和誰約會（笑聲）

And if I snowboard again

如果我再玩滑雪板

my feet aren't going to get cold. (Laughter)

腳再也不會冷（笑聲）

And best of all I thought

我覺得最棒的是

I can make my feet the size of all the shoes that are on the sales rack. (Laughter)

我可以調整腳的大小來適合 貨架上任何尺碼的鞋子（笑聲）

And I did! So there are benefites here.

我真那麼幹了！所以這還是有些好處的

It was this moment

那一刻我問了自己

that I asked myself that life defining question.

一個決定人生走向的問題

"If my life were a book

如果人生是一本書

and I were the author

而我是作者

how would I want this story to go."

我會怎麼寫這個故事？

And I began to daydream,

我開始做白日夢

I daydreamed like I did as a little girl.

想小時候那樣做夢

And I imagined myself

我想像自己

walking gracefully

優雅地前行

helping other people through my journey

在路途中幫助別人

and snowboarding again.

再次玩滑雪板

And didn't just see myself

我並不是僅僅看到自己

carving down on mountain of powder

從山上滑下來

I could actually feel it.

我可以真切感受到

I could feel the wind against my face and a beat

我可以感受到風撲面而來

of my racing heart

感受到心臟的韻律

as if it were happening in that very moment.

如同那一刻正在真實發生

And that is when

那就是我

a new chapter in my life began.

人生新篇章開啟的時刻

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard

4個月之後，我重拾滑雪板

although things didn't go quite as I expected

雖然事情並不像我期待的那樣

my knees and ankles wouldn't bend, and at one point

我的膝蓋和腳踝無法彎曲 在某一點上

I traumatized all the steers on the chairlift when I..

我嚇壞了升降椅上所有的滑雪者 就是當我

I fell

摔倒時，

and my legs still attached to my snowboard (Laughter)

我的腿還連著滑板（笑聲）

were flying down the mountain. (Laughter)

它們一起飛落到山腳（笑聲）

And

而

I was on top of the mountain still.

我依然在山頂

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

我被驚到了 同其他人一樣 我驚呆了

and I was so discouraged, but

而且很失落 但是

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

我知道如果我找到了兩條合適的腿

that I would be able to do this again.

我完全可以成功

And this is when I learned

這時 我明白了

that our borders and obstacles can only do two things.

艱難險阻只能做兩件事：

One: stop us in our tracks,

一是將我們困在原來的軌道

or two: force us to get creative.

二是迫使我們充滿創造

I did a year of research, but still couldn't figure out what kind of legs to use

我研究了一年 仍然不知道 用什麼樣的腿

couldn't find any resources that could help me

也找不到任何有用的資源

so I decided to make a pair myself.

於是我決定自己做一副

My leg maker and I put random parts together

我和製作者把各種部件拼在一起

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

做了兩條可以玩滑板的腿

As you can see

你可以看到

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

生鏽的螺栓、橡膠、木頭和熒光粉膠帶

And yes I can change may toe nail polish.

沒錯 我可以換指甲顏色

It was these legs and the best twenty first birthday gift I could ever receive --

這雙假腿 以及我21歲生日收到的最好禮物——

a new kidney from my dad

我爸爸的一個腎

that allowed me to follow my dreams again.

讓我再次追逐夢想

I started snowboarding

我開始玩滑雪板

then I went back to work, then I went back to school. Then in 2005

我重新工作 並回到學校 然後在2005年

I co-founded a non-profit organization

我創辦了一個非盈利組織

for youth and young adults with physical disabilities so that they could get

用來救助身體殘疾的年輕人

involved with action sports.

讓他們能再次參加體育運動

From there had the opportunity to go to South Africa

從那時起 我有機會前往南非

Where I helped to put shoes on thousands of children's feet so they can attend school.

給千百兒童帶來鞋子 這樣他們就可以去上學

And just at this past February

在剛剛過去的二月

i won two back-to-back world cup gold medals. (Applause)

我相繼取得兩塊世界金牌（掌聲）

Which made me

這使我成為

the highest-ranked adaptive female snowboarder in the world.

世界上最高級別的女子滑雪板運動員

Eleven years ago

11年前

when I lost my legs I had no idea what to expect.

當我失去腿時 我不知道該期盼什麼

But if you asked me today, if I would ever want to change my situation,

但是如果你現​​在問我 是否願意換個人生

I would have to say no.

我會回答不

Because my legs haven't disabled me. If anything they have enabled me, they forced me

因為我的雙腿並沒有阻礙我 如果說它們給我帶來了什麼

to rely on my imagination

那就是它們讓我依靠想像力

and to believe in the possibilities.

讓我相信一切皆有可能

And that's why I believe that our imaginations can be used as tools for

這就是為什麼我相信 想像可以成為工具

breaking through borders.

用來衝破障礙

Because in our minds we can do anything

因為在腦子裡 我們可以做任何事

and we can be anything.

可以成為任何人

It's believing in those dreams,

相信夢想

and facing our fears head-on

直面恐懼

that allows us to live our lives beyond our limits.

能夠讓我們的生活 超出局限

And although today is about innovation without borders, I have to say

雖然今天在講無邊界創新 但我不得不說

that in my life

在我的生命裡

innovation has only been possible because of my borders.

是我自身的種種局限 讓不可能變成可能

I've learned that

我知道

borders are where the actual ends,

這些局限 才是現實結束

also where imagination

想像產生

and the story begins.

與故事開始的地方

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

所以 今天我想讓你們挑戰的是

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

也許 相比把挑戰、局限看做

as something negative or bad,

不利或者壞事

we can begin to look at them as blessings

我們可以把它們看做恩惠

magnificent gifts that can be used to ignite our imaginations

可以點亮想像的神奇禮物

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

能幫助我們走得更遠遠到我們從未想過

It's not about breaking down borders

這不是要打破局限

it's about pushing off of them

而是把局限推地更廣

and seeing

然後看看

what amazing places

它們能把我們帶到

he might bring us. Thank you. (Applause)

怎樣美好的地方 謝謝 (掌聲)