Amy Michelle Purdy (born November 7, 1979) is an American actress,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, para-snowboarder,

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. Purdy is a 2014 Paralympic bronze medalist, 2018 Paralympics silver medalist, and co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports.

Life and career

Purdy was born in Las Vegas in 1979. When she was 19 years old, she contracted ''

Neisseria meningitidis ''Neisseria meningitidis'', often referred to as the meningococcus, is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause meningitis and other forms of meningococcal disease such as meningococcemia, a life-threatening sepsis. The bacterium is referred to a ...

'', a form of bacterial

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

. The disease affected Purdy's

circulatory system In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart ...

when the infection led to

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International C ...

; both of her legs had to be

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is ...

below the knee, she lost both kidneys along with hearing in her left ear, and her

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

had to be removed. Doctors gave Purdy a 2% chance of survival. Two years later, she received a kidney transplant from her father. Purdy began

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

seven months after she received her prosthetic legs. About a year after her legs were amputated, Purdy finished third in a snowboarding competition at

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera County, California, Madera and Mono County, California, Mono counties. It is home to a large Mammoth Mounta ...

. Subsequently, she received a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), a non-profit organization. Through this grant, Purdy was able to compete in several snowboarding competitions in the U.S. In 2003, Purdy was recruited by the CAF as spokesperson, and she moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

to be closer to the CAF headquarters. In San Diego, Purdy continued her pre-amputee profession as a massage therapist. She also became involved in the modeling and acting industry. In February 2003, Purdy played a model in a

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

music video. Later in 2003, Purdy started working for Freedom Innovations, a prosthetic feet manufacturer, as its "Amputee Advocate". Purdy has gone on to co-found her own non-profit organization, Adaptive Action Sports, a chapter of

Disabled Sports USA Move United is an American non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of parasports among youths and adults with physical disabilities. The organization operates community parasports programs via over 150 local chapters across the country. M ...

for individuals with physical disabilities who want to get involved in action sports (snowboarding,

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

) or art and music. In 2005, Purdy made her film debut in '' What's Bugging Seth'', a movie by Eli Steele. Purdy was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25 in 2014, and one of Oprah's ''SuperSoul 100'' visionaries and influential leaders in 2016. Purdy retired from competitive sports in March 2022.

Television appearances

In 2012, Purdy and her now husband Daniel Gale participated on the 21st season of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

''. After nearly winning the first leg of the race, they were the second team eliminated and finished in 10th place out of 11 teams. On February 5, 2014, Purdy was in a one-hour special on NBC television titled ''How to Raise an Olympian''. The program, hosted by

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and Celebrity, television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show ''The View (talk show), The View'' (1997–2006), the ...

, chronicled the journeys of seven U.S. Olympians and included interviews with parents and coaches along with home video and photos from each athlete's childhood. Purdy went on to win the bronze medal in Snowboard Cross in the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Par ...

. In 2015, Purdy was featured in a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

advertisement for the

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Cam ...

. The advert features Purdy snowboarding, dancing, and adjusting her prosthetic legs with a voiceover of

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

's "How Great I Am" speech.

Book

On December 30, 2014, Purdy released a memoir entitled ''On My Own Two Feet: From Losing My Legs To Learning The Dance Of Life'', published by HarperCollins.

Dancing

Purdy was a contestant on

season 18 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Paired with five-time champion

Derek Hough Derek Bruce Hough (; born May 17, 1985) is an American professional Latin dance, Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. From 2007 to 2016, Hough was a professional dancer on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC dance compe ...

, Purdy was the first double amputee contestant to ever appear on the show. At the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

, Purdy made an appearance performing a dance routine with what was promoted as a "surprise partner": a

KUKA KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems. In 2016, the company was acquired by the Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group. It has 25 subsidiaries in countries including the United States, the Eur ...

robotic arm A robotic arm is a type of mechanical arm, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm; the arm may be the sum total of the mechanism or may be part of a more complex robot. The links of such a manipulator are connected by join ...

. In 2018, Purdy was back on Dancing with the Stars Season 27 dancing with Tinashe & Brandon in a trio dance

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, Amy 1979 births Living people American amputees American disabled sportspeople American female snowboarders American film actresses Paralympic snowboarders for the United States Paralympic medalists in snowboarding Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Models with disabilities Kidney transplant recipients People from El Dorado County, California People from Summit County, Colorado Sportspeople from California Sportspeople from Colorado Sportspeople from the Las Vegas Valley Participants in American reality television series 21st-century American sportswomen