If we can see past preconceived limitations, then the possibilities are endless.
When disease took my legs, I eventually realized I didn't need them to lead a full, empowering life.
As humans, we need to reach out for support.
Every day that I am healthy, I want to use that day to its fullest now.
I was on my death bed, and I remember hanging on to these words, 'Don't be scared. You are going to live an amazing life,' and I have.
Just the thought of being on Oprah's radar at all is humbling, but to actually have her take time get on the phone with me kind of blows my mind.
My dad gave me one of his kidneys.
Oprah has been a true inspiration to me, so I'm truly grateful both to her for taking the time to speak with me, and to the folks at 'DWTS' who set it all up.
I love the smell of rain, and I love the sound of the ocean waves.
As for how do I respond to those who want to throw stones, well, I don't.
I lost the life that I knew, and I really had to rethink my future and think about my core values and the things that I love, and my passion, and that's really what helped me move forward. Also, for me just being grateful for what I had in my life versus on focusing on what I was losing, that really helped as well.
I guess I'm always up for a challenge.
The way I look at it is, we all have disabilities.
Dancers know how to move their arms and their hands. But I don't know the first thing about how to move my arms and hands gracefully.
In my dreams, whatever I am doing, I look down to see if I have prosthetics. It sets my time frame in my dream, I think. I'd have these dreams that I am running and launching myself, and I look down and see that I have prosthetics. I have a lot of those, where I do great, amazing things with my prosthetics.
I kind of had to figure stuff out on my own and get myself snowboarding competitively again. I went through all types of different legs to try to learn which were going to work for me. Luckily, I was able to figure it out.
I'm not trying to be an inspiration, but I'm flattered to be considered one.
I was in kidney failure. I ended up having a kidney transplant on my 21st birthday.
My dad had given my sister and I our starter car, a red, old 1985 Chevy Blazer. It was so beat up, the taillights would fall off, and we would use red duct tape.
I'm learning how strong I am, how resilient I am. I'm learning my weaknesses.
I knew I loved dancing with my friends.
I've always been driven, and I like the creative aspect of figuring things out.
We all have challenges. You can let them be obstacles or roadblocks, or you can use them.
After I lost my legs, all I wanted to do was snowboard again. I remember spending an entire year on the computer, looking for 'adaptive snowboarders' or 'snowboard legs' or 'adaptive snowboard schools' or just something that I could connect to. I already knew how to snowboard - I just needed to find the right legs.
We did everything we could to save my legs, and it just came to a point where if we didn't amputate my legs, I wouldn't survive. In that situation, you kind of go into survival mode, and you find strength.
I made a choice before I lost my legs that I was going to live the best life possible and that I wasn't going to let this slow me down - and that choice has kept me moving forward.
I like moving, challenging myself.
I always felt really lucky that I only lost my legs, because it could've been so much worse.
If you want something bad enough and you work hard enough, anything's possible.
I'm very grateful that I've had the opportunities I've had.
I have a very good sense of my body and where it's at. Although I don't feel the ground in the same way that somebody else would, I'm very aware... I can feel pressure, and I know exactly where my toes are and exactly where my heel is.
I always say snowboarding saved my life. It gave me a reason to focus on the future; it gave me something to be passionate about.
If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go? That's the question that changed my life forever.
Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free. I would daydream about traveling the world, living in a place where it snowed, and I would picture all of the stories that I would go on to tell.
For me, I just began, eventually, to embrace what I had. This is what I have to deal with and, not just deal with, but this is what I have to share, and how can I do that the best way.
I've learned that borders are where the actual ends, but also where the imagination and the story begins.
The thing with prosthetic feet is you can't have all this crazy motion, or you'd be all over the place - because it's mechanical, and it's outside your body.
If you believe that you can't do something, then you're not going to do it. If you believe you can, and you're willing to put in the effort and figure out a way to do it, then the majority of the time, you can.
I'm a big oatmeal fan. For my every-morning breakfast, I will do oatmeal with cinnamon, goat's milk or even butter, with apples and raisins, and then I'll maybe do some eggs, say two poached eggs with that.
What's cool is that Oprah is the same person on stage and in front of a camera as she is off stage and behind the scenes. She speaks the same way on camera as she does off camera.
It was challenging. It was never easy for me. My life changed suddenly, and I lost my health. I lost the body that I knew.
I've always made the choice to do everything to my fullest potential.
You can't even imagine the feeling you get when someone tells you that you are about to lose your legs.
I think the designs and creativity are limitless with 3-D-printed clothing.
My dad gave me life twice. I thank him by using the strong body I now have.
Dancing is about expressing yourself, and the more walls you let down, the better.
I am not an over-the-top kind of person.
You don't have to be positive all the time.
I'm so comfortable on my snowboard that I don't have to think about it very much; it's somewhat second nature.
