She learned to walk on prosthetics, then to run -- competing at the national and international level as a champion sprinter, and setting world records at the Paralympics in Atlanta.
At Georgetown, where she double-majored in history and diplomacy, she became the first double amputee to compete in NCAA Division 1 track and field. After school, Mullins did some modeling -- including a legendary runway show for Alexander McQueen -- and then turned to acting, appearing as the Leopard Queen in Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle. She's a passionate advocate for a new kind of thinking about prosthetics, and recently mentioned to an interviewer that she's been looking closely at MIT's in-development powered robotic ankle, "which I fully plan on having.
She compared prosthetic legs to eyeglasses, and in the same way that we wear designer eyeglasses she has designer legs she was wearing her 4-inch heel legs for the talk. She made it clear that with enough attitude you could pull off anything as she left the crowd dumbstruck with her presence. As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights.
Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs — she's got a dozen amazing pairs — and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be. The thesaurus might equate "disabled" with synonyms like "useless" and "mutilated," but ground-breaking runner Aimee Mullins is out to redefine the word. Defying these associations, she shows how adversity — in her case, being born without shinbones — actually opens the door for human potential.
The work, a six-hour operatic epic, premiered at Brooklyn Academy of Music in February In an attempt for an outside chance at independent mobility, doctors amputated both her legs below the knee on her first birthday. She had both legs amputated below the knee when she was only a year old. Without her legs, she could still learn to walk with artificial ones. With her legs, she would have been confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Her amazing spirit and drive helped compensate for the portion of her body she was missing. Despite her physical limitations, she pushed herself physically and mentally to succeed. In high school she participated in numerous sports, including softball and skiing. While in high school, she heard about a track meet for people with disabilities, and was actually bothered by the idea, as she felt the athletes were limiting themselves by defining themselves by their disabilities.
Never one to turn down an opportunity, though, she signed up for the meet, not expecting much of an actual challenge even though she had never run competitively.
She was surprised upon arriving, when she realized that she was the only athlete wearing wooden legs. Not to mention that all the other athletes had at least one normal leg. Instead of deterring her determination, though, it forced her to push herself harder to succeed. And succeed she did — she not only won, she also broke a national record in doing so. A year later, she broke the world record in it. Mullins decided to work towards competing in the Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
To do so, she obtained her first pair of sprinting legs with which she hoped to break the time she needed for Paralympic placement. Instead, her greatest fear came true — her leg began to slip off, and consequently, she lost because of it.
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