Documentary
Amy Purdy: Adaptive Action Sports
TL;DR
Amy Purdy lost both legs below the knee to bacterial meningitis when she was nineteen. This short film from Good News Network follows her back onto a snowboard and into the nonprofit she co-founded, Adaptive Action Sports, which has been getting people with physical disabilities onto boards since 2005. It runs under five minutes and is free to watch.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 2022
- Runtime
- 4:27
- Produced by
- LightbeamTV
- Published by
- Good News Network
- Cost
- Free on YouTube
Amy Purdy was nineteen when bacterial meningitis put her into septic shock. She lost both legs below the knee. Her spleen and the hearing in her left ear went too, and both kidneys failed, so her father gave her one of his two years later. She was back on a snowboard that same season, on snowboard feet she designed and built herself.
This film, produced by Lightbeam and published by Good News Network in August 2022, is about what she did next. In 2005 she and Daniel Gale started Adaptive Action Sports, which worked with USA Snowboarding to create the first adaptive snowboarding competition division and helped get adaptive events into both the summer and winter X Games. She is a three-time Paralympic medallist, with bronze in snowboard cross at Sochi in 2014 and silver and bronze at PyeongChang in 2018, and she finished second on Dancing with the Stars in 2014.
Why OGSP Recommends It
Amy Purdy could have just stopped at getting her own life back. Instead she and Daniel Gale built the organization amputees needed, and it has been running for twenty years. That is the kind of story One Good Story Project loves to share.
Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- Amy Purdy was back on a snowboard the same season she lost both legs, on snowboard feet she built herself, and she has since won three Paralympic medals.
- She and Daniel Gale founded Adaptive Action Sports in 2005. It worked with USA Snowboarding to create the first adaptive snowboarding competition division, which gave adaptive riders somewhere to compete.
- It runs winter snowboarding from its Mountain Center at Copper Mountain in Colorado, for youth, young adults and wounded veterans living with permanent physical disabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Amy Purdy: Adaptive Action Sports?
It runs four minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Good News Network published it in August 2022 and it is free to watch.
Who made the film about Amy Purdy and Adaptive Action Sports?
It was produced by LightbeamTV, a streaming service built around inspiring stories, and published by Good News Network in August 2022.
How did Amy Purdy lose her legs?
She caught bacterial meningitis at nineteen and went into septic shock. Both legs were amputated below the knee. She lost her spleen and the hearing in her left ear as well, and both kidneys failed, so her father donated one of his two years later.
Where can I watch Amy Purdy: Adaptive Action Sports?
On the Good News Network channel on YouTube. There is no paywall and no subscription.