Amputee/Limb Difference

Brittany Palmer — A Venture in Life and Venture Capital

Venture capital (VC) plays a vital role in developing new technologies and supporting the growing space of disability innovations. Bringing their lived experience to the world of venture capital are Brittany and Rich Palmer, a husband-and-wife team who run Adaptation Ventures, a venture capital fund dedicated to early-stage, disability-centric innovations. Brittany, who was born with … Read more

From Kilimanjaro to Naked and Afraid: Mandy Horvath Keeps Climbing

In a world where survival television often focuses on spectacle, Mandy Horvath continues to redefine what endurance, resilience, and purpose can look like. A bilateral amputee, mountaineer, public speaker, and recent participant on the television series Naked and Afraid, Horvath has built a reputation not simply through physical feats, but through the deeply personal meaning … Read more

Koalaa — Life Changing Soft Prosthetics

Koalaa designs lightweight and usable prosthetics for people with limb difference. Their goal is to make prosthetics that are affordable, comfortable and readily available. Koalaa’s focus, from its start, has been to find out what people with limb difference really want and need by actually talking to and working with them. ABILITY’s George Kaplan … Read more

Blake Leeper — Medal Winning Sprinter Chasing Down His Dreams

The first time ABILITY spoke with Blake Leeper the multi-medaled Paralympian blade runner and world record holder who was striving to become the world’s fastest man, was early 2016. Since then Leeper has experienced setbacks and challenges yet remains determined to compete. ABILITY’s George Kaplan reconnected with Leeper to catch up on his new aspirations … Read more

Arunima Sinha — First Woman Amputee to Climb Mount Everest

This is a story of the triumph of will. A story of courage, determination and dedication. A story of hope and resilience in the face of challenges. In 2011, twenty four year old national level volleyball player Arunima Sinha was thrown off a moving train by thieves for refusing to hand over the gold … Read more

Christoph Glötzner, the Young German Paralympian, Racing Towards Gold!

60, 59, 58 – Christoph Glötzner can see the countdown ticking down on the large black clock right in front of him. 57, 56, 55. He’s wearing a yellow and black suit and holds ski poles in each hand with mini skis attached at their ends. The athlete in front of him had just started … Read more

Tammy Duckworth — Senator, Soldier, Advocate, Mother

Grit and determination have been driving forces throughout Senator Tammy Duckworth’s life. As a young child, Sen. Duckworth experienced the bombs and shelling of war while living in Cambodia during the Vietnam conflict. Her father, a WWII and Vietnam Veteran, was working there as an aid worker for the United Nations. Sen. Duckworth and her … Read more

Major League Baseball — Playing With A Disability

Circa 2009 Many athletes with disabilities have succeeded on the professional playing field. Probably in no other professional sport is this truer than in Major League Baseball. Few fans are aware of the number of these players who have succeeded in the majors. This may be because of the athletes themselves, who either downplayed or … Read more

Senator Duckworth Receives Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award

Paralyzed Veterans of America recently announced it will honor Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois with the 2019 Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award during the organization’s Annual PVA Gala. From critical efforts on the Americans with Disabilities Act, to improving the air travel experience for passengers with disabilities, Senator Duckworth has been a … Read more

Amy Purdy — Medal Winning Paralympian

By her own admission, Amy Purdy loves a challenge. A Paralympian snowboarder—she holds a bronze and a silver medal—she’s confronted and conquered her own impossible many times over. But snowboarding wasn’t always a given for her. A nearly lethal case of Bacterial Meningitis at 19 left Purdy fighting for her life. In a two-and-a-half … Read more

Kurt Yaeger — Sons of Anarchy

An interview with actor, director and professional athlete Kurt Yaeger is best known for his recurring role as Greg “the Peg” on the FX series, “Sons of Anarchy”.

Amputee Recovery — From the Middle East to Haiti

Circa 2010-11 Colonel Jennifer Menetrez sympathized with the man on the hospital bed. She knew his status: lower spinal cord injury. Lower leg amputation. This man would never walk again. At least, that was what he had been told by caretakers, shortly after a 7.0 earthquake had rocked Haiti and killed 220,000. The region’s limited … Read more

Landmines — Jerry White’s Survivor Corps Mission

Circa 2009 During a hike in the hills of Israel, a chance encounter with a landmine left Jerry White with a new view on life. White placed his focus not on what had been taken from him, but on how his personal experience and passion could make the world safer for others. In 1997 he … Read more