Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Nick Vujicic: Born without limbs

Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne, Australia with the rare Tetra-amelia disorder: limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh.

His life was filled with difficulties and hardships. One was not being able to attend a mainstream school because of his physical disability, as the law of Australia required, even though he was not mentally impaired. During his schooling, the laws were changed, and Nick was one of the first disabled students to be migrated to a mainstream school. He learned to write using the two toes on his left "foot," and a special device that slid onto his big toe to grip. He also learned to use a computer and type using the "heel and toe" method, as well as learning to do basic things such as throwing a tennis ball, answering the phone, shaving and get a glass of water.

Being bullied at his school, Nick grew extremely depressed, and by the age of eight, started contemplating suicide. After begging God to grow arms and legs, Nick eventually began to realize that his accomplishments were inspirational to many, and began to thank God he was alive. A key turning point in his life was when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with severe disability. This led him to realize he wasn't the only one with major struggles.

Nick graduated from college at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning.

Nick Vujicic - Fully living for Jesus Christ (Part 1 of 4)


Nick Vujicic - Fully living for Jesus Christ (Part 2 of 4)


Nick Vujicic - Fully living for Jesus Christ (Part 3 of 4)


Nick Vujicic - Fully living for Jesus Christ (Part 4 of 4)

2 comments:

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Watched a YouTube presentation with him a few months ago. He does very well for himself and motivates others.

Jeff said...

Thanks, Dr. Murray. Yes, and he is certainly an example of encouragement to look to whenever one is feeling down, since he has no arms or legs, and we have both arms and legs. No matter how discouraged or depressed we get, there is always someone who has it worse than we do. And for him to have such a positive attitude in the midst of it all is not only commendable, but amazing. I also think of Joni Earekson Tada and Bethany Hamilton (who is a Facebook Friend, though I've never met her, and she has 245,406 Facebook Friends, so I'm merely another fan) as similar examples.