Amy Purdy Talks About Her Experience:
- Competing on Team USA
- at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
- Second-Place Finish on Dancing With The Stars
 Plus Inspiring Others to Follow Their Dreams and Protect Their Future
 Amy Purdy was not your average Dancing With The Stars contestant. As a double amputee, she used a variety of prosthetic legs in the dancing competition – a first for the show! Amy danced her way into the finals and came in 2nd place in the star-studded competition. This was immediately after she returned from the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, where she won a bronze medal in snowboard cross for Team USA.
Her journey to Sochi and back is an awe-inspiring story of achieving success by focusing on ability. Amy battled Bacterial Meningitis at the age of 19, leading to the amputation of her legs. But nothing could stop her. She’s become a motivational speaker, model, actress, and three-time World Cup gold medalist. As an athlete ambassador for The Hartford, Amy is encouraging others to be defined by their abilities, not physical limitations.
Amy talks about her journey back into sports after an unexpected medical emergency, her experience in Sochi and on the dance floor, and how she’s helping others reach for the stars.
About the Talent:
Amy Purdy was diagnosed with a bacterial infection called Meningococcal Meningitis and was given less than a 2% chance of survival. Doctors had to amputate her legs below the knee after she suffered a lack of circulation due to the disease. She later received a donated kidney from her father a week before her 21st birthday. After going through this life-altering experience, Amy challenged herself to attain goals that even those who have both legs struggle to achieve. Just three months after her kidney transplant, Amy entered the USASA National Snowboarding Championship, where she won medals in three events. Today, she is one of the top-ranked adaptive snowboarders in the world, has won multiple World Cup medals, and earned a bronze medal for Team USA at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. During the Games, she starred in a national TV ad that promoted The Hartford’s What Defines You campaign. Thanks to Amy’s help and sports fans nationwide, the fundraising campaign raised $100,000 for U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee dedicated to recruiting and training elite athletes with physical disabilities.
