"Beauty is the personal expression of one's identity,
and each one creates and recreates that identity throughout the life
cycle." says Aimee Mullins, who turned her disability into a
"super-capacity" through her desire to excel, her will and her drive.
Aimee first received worldwide media attention as an athlete.
Born without fibulae in both legs, Aimee's medical prognosis was discouraging;
she was told she would never walk, and would likely spend the rest of her life
using a wheelchair. In an attempt for an outside chance at increased mobility,
doctors amputated both her legs below the knee on her first birthday. The
decision paid off. By age two, she had learned to walk on prosthetic legs, and
spent her childhood doing the usual athletic activities of her peers: swimming,
biking, softball, soccer, and skiing, always alongside “able-bodies” kids.
After graduating high school with honors, Aimee was one of
three students in the US chosen for a full academic scholarship from the
Department of Defense, and at age 17 became the youngest person to hold a
top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon. She worked there as an
intelligence analyst during her summer breaks.
It was at this time that she rediscovered her love of
competitive sports. While a dean's list student at the prestigious School of
Foreign Service at Georgetown University, she set her sights on making the US
Team for the 1996 Atlanta Games. She enlisted the expertise of Frank Gagliano,
one of the country's most respected track coaches. Through this partnership,
she became the first amputee in history, male or female, to compete in the
NCAA, doing so on Georgetown's nationally-ranked Division I track team.
Becoming the first person to be outfitted with woven carbon-fiber prostheses
that were modeled after the hind legs of a cheetah, she went on to set World Records
in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the long jump, sparking a frenzy over the
radical design of her prototype sprinting legs. The essential design of those
legs are now the world standard in sports prosthetics. After a profile in Life magazine showcased her
in the starting blocks at Atlanta, the world took notice. Aimee soon landed a
10-page feature in the inaugural issue of Sports Illustrated for Women, which
led to her accepting numerous invitations to speak at international design
conferences. This introduction to a discourse relating to aesthetic principles
fueled her interest in issues relating to body image, and how fashion
advertising impacted societal notions of femininity and beauty. In 1999, Aimee
made her runway debut in London at the invitation of one of the world's most
celebrated fashion designers, Alexander McQueen.
Aimee Mullins I SAG Awards Red Carpet 2016
An influential voice in today's culture, she is regularly invited to share her ideas at various corporations and global conferences like TED and TEDMED.
https://youtu.be/JQ0iMulicgg
aimeemullins.com
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