Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I salute!




He was born with multiple defects - club footed, both hands with webbed fingers, crippling pterygium, cleft lip n palate... by the age of 4 he had already undergone 15 surgeries!! he was confined to a wheel chair n all efforts to grow the bones in his legs went in vain...

At the age of 5 he was so frustrated that he told the doctor to cut off his legs so that he could go out n play with the other kids... the doctors did find that to be the solution n amputated his legs n replaced them with artificial limbs... as suggested by the doctors, he was taken to a therapeutic pool to swim n that marked the beginning of a new life for him... he just wouldnt come out of the pool n grew in swimming with prosthetic legs! n everytime he came out of the pool, he made it a point to set a record!
He actually wanted to run even before he could walk.. when he was 8, he said he would swim in the paralympics games... he not only lived up to it, but also surpassed it by winning the gold medal n setting a record for his category...
When he was 15, he had set 5 american swimming records, 4 national running records, completed 6 triathlons n carried an olympic torch! last yr, when he was 20, he won the gold medal at the paralympics at beijing, setting a new world record..

Rudy Garcia Tolson today swims, runs n participates in triathlons as a competitor at the highest level n sometimes he has even outperformed some of the able-bodied athletes. Rudy is also a motivational speaker n inspires many by his story! he also generates funds to support other challenged athletes n help them build a career with dignity...

With such grit, determination, zest n nerves of steel, he has achieved not only for himself but for everyone around him... I salute!