12 Pairs of Legs

I was at the Princes Trust North West Regional Vounteers Conference a couple of weeks ago and one of the speakers introduced us to the story of an amazing lady called Aimee Mullins.

For those of you who have never heard of her before, she was born without fibular bones and both of her legs were amputated when she was a small child. Having learnt to walk on prosthetic legs she then started to run, and run and run, in fact she went on to become a record breaker in the 1996 Paralympics. She's since gone on to build a career as a model, actor, activist for women & sports and an advocate for advanced thinking about prosthetics.

Inspired to learn more, I did a quick internet search and came across a website which had a video of a talk by Aimee from February 2009 in which she talked about her 12 pairs of amazing legs. One of the first things she tells us about is going on a school visit and asking to be allowed to talk to the kids without adults present for a couple of minutes before the main event. I was thrilled to hear about how, in just a few minutes, without censorship of their natural curiosity they came to see Aimee not as "disabled" but as somebody with potential to do things that their bodies couldn't. Super-abled rather than dis-abled!

How did she get them to do this so quickly? She engaged their imaginations. I suggest you watch the video yourself for her explanation of this - it's excellent.

Another thing that stuck in my mind was her experience of being approached by people who would comment on how attractive she is and then add "you don't look disabled". So the question is raised, what is the nature of beauty? What does a beautiful woman look like? What is a sexy body? And furthermore, what does it mean to have a disability? If it's a question of prosthetics then are people who have had boob jobs and comestic surgery to be thought of as disabled?

Hold that thought and also consider another anecdote that she shares. One of her 12 pairs of legs elevates her height from 5'8" to a statuesque 6'1" and on their first outing together she met a girl friend who hadn't seen her for a few years. When she saw Aimee her jaw dropped and she exclaimed that it's "not fair", meaning that it wasn't fair that Aimee could change her height as and when she wanted to!

So society is changing is it? Are we now thinking about augmentation rather than overcoming deficiency. Are we now looking at potential rather than loss? I do hope so. Aimee's talk certainly made me feel like that's the case. So I'll end with a quote from Aimee and a strong recommendation that you take 10 minutes to watch this inspiring video.

"People that society once considered to be disabled can now become the architects of their own identities and indeed continue to change those identities by designing their bodies from a place of empowerment". Aimee Mullins

Tracy x