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Limb Loss Awareness Month Finale With 2 Outstanding NYC Amputees 4-30-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:01
Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All right, well, I'm in my
0:12
nick gear today because obviously big game this evening. But on the other hand,
0:18
it is limb Loss Awareness Month and it's the finale of it. And
0:22
someone I met at Port Washington after the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving is one Mary
0:27
Johnson. And Mary to wrap up this month, and I'm not sure if
0:31
you're posting about it much or whatnot, but to wrap up this monthent I
0:35
figured out have you on the show as a runner who runs with a prosthetic
0:38
leg above the knee, by the way, which is what drew me to
0:41
you, because obviously you know we're both above the knee and whatnot. So
0:45
first of all, welcome to my podcast. Thank you, Thank you for
0:48
having me here today, and thanks for being so approachable at the Turkey Trot
0:53
in November. I know it's kind of cold out, but we started there
0:56
and talked for a little bit. Now here we are a few months later.
1:00
It was so incredible to me you that day. I can't believe that
1:03
we haven't met before. Yeah, well yeah, I moved back to Port
1:07
with my fiance back in July, so it's been pretty recent that I'm out
1:11
there anyway. You just completed something pretty awesome on Sunday, and I thought,
1:15
what encapsulation of runners who are amputees. You finish off the women's hat
1:22
and we're proudly showing off the medal and whatnot. And I know it's not
1:25
your first run, but tell us about what this Sunday meant to you running
1:29
in Central Park. Sure, Sunday was a really special race because it was
1:38
women only. There were over eight thousand women. There were about maybe five
1:44
men they let let snug into the race, but so there was a lot
1:51
of camaraderie. You know, there's a little bit of misery in the Central
1:56
Park hills for everyone, but a lot of we're all in this together spirit
2:04
and something so beautiful about that as we took those hills, the up and
2:10
downs together women of all ages. Someone that I a few people that I
2:15
know from the group Achilles International, a woman who is eighty two years old,
2:21
Ruth. She has all of her limbs, but that doesn't matter.
2:24
She's eighty two and running a half marathon, which is what a role model.
2:30
Absolutely incredible, absolutely incredib By the way, those hills, I've done
2:34
five miles on those hills. Sometimes i'd run and a roll of blade on
2:38
it, but as I got older, I started to do it all on
2:39
crutches, and my goodness, that's a lot, especially in a warmer day.
2:46
Yeah, I'm sure you've done it before, but you've been running your
2:50
whole life. And this is what I want to talk about, because you've
2:52
been running, and now since you've lost your life, you continue to run.
2:57
So tell us about the adaptation running with two versus and when you did
3:00
lose a leg, where you were you wouldn't be able to run again type
3:04
of thing. Sure, So when I woke up, I you know,
3:08
I had no leg. I also lost half of my hand, and it
3:15
took me a few months to even be able to walk again. And the
3:17
doctors showed me that I wouldn't run, which was not an acceptable answer for
3:23
me. I'm not someone who takes a no. I just knew that wasn't
3:29
the right answer. So I went out right away to find a way that
3:35
I could run, because I knew I was going to run again. And
3:40
I think that's true really about anything in life. Anyone who's listening to this,
3:44
if you want to run a half marathon, you can do it anyone.
3:49
If you set your mind to do something, you can do it.
3:52
And so I set my mind to that I was going to run. I
3:55
didn't know I was going to run a half marathon or a marathon. And
4:00
you did run a marathon. Tell us about that experience. Now, yeah,
4:03
I'm signed up for this November. That'll be my first one here,
4:06
and we're gonna have to have you back on maybe even cove on the I
4:10
mean on the course or something like that. That'd be cool to cover your
4:15
journey on the marathon course. That would be pretty fun. Well, I
4:17
have to go to talk about that off air, but on the air,
4:20
tell us about how you did lose your like, because I did post our
4:24
picture from Fort Washington, we got a lot of good reactions to tell people
4:27
who might have seen the picture how you lost your leg if you don't mind,
4:31
sure, I was a pedestrian walking and I got it by a train.
4:40
So it was a traumatic accident. A lot of my friends were amputees.
4:44
Some might be from cancer, some might be the genital they were born
4:46
that way. Some people are accidents, car accidents, motorcycles, trains.
4:51
So my accident happened when I was twenty three years old, which makes it
4:56
a little bit harder to learn how to walk and run when you're already an
4:59
adult. Everything's easier when you're a kid to learn. But just because something
5:04
is harder doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. And so I took on the
5:10
challenge of learning how to run, and even I hurt my head in the
5:15
accident, I had a traumatic brain injury. But I took on the challenge
5:18
of going back to school because I wanted to just keep making myself stronger.
5:24
Not only did you go back to school, you went to Saint John's University
5:27
of Law School. Now we'll get into that in a minute, because I
5:29
love Saint John's campus, and that's where it is right that it's on the
5:31
campus, Saint John's great place in Utopia, Queen's. But read just now
5:36
that going back to school, and how accepting were you by your peers after
5:41
all that? Were they just so supportive and whatnot? Uh? Yes,
5:46
actually my first but I did first, I have my background, but was
5:55
before I went back to school. I went back to teaching, and behind
5:57
me is a little picture of my classroom. I was teaching fifth grade,
6:01
and that is the best because kids won't lie to you if they ask you
6:06
what's up, and they don't mean any harm when you just look different.
6:13
And it is kind of very therapeutic to be able to explain, yes,
6:17
my leg is different. But isn't it cool that I use this prosthetic leg
6:21
and it helps me to walk and it helps me to run, And so
6:27
that I've gone through many prosthetics, and then of course the prosthetic drew me
6:31
all because I've gone through many of them as a kid, not so much
6:33
as an adult because the rollblade just kind of sufficed, you know, that
6:38
was That's the way I've been since eight years old, role playing around.
6:40
But for you, how was the fitting? Was it uncomfortable at times?
6:45
How many did you go through to get it right for your running? For
6:46
your what do you have different prosthetics? I have one for walking and one
6:53
for running. I'm thinking a lot. Every time I would gain, lose
7:00
a little bit of weight, or things would change, a lot of fitting
7:02
to get to get things. Yeah, and so now you're teaching that that
7:09
is just so cool. And you went to you went to law school.
7:11
Tell us about that experience as well. I'm I'm going to graduate in a
7:15
few weeks, So that's cool. Congratulations, thank you. It's been difficult,
7:21
but the Saint John's community is really fantastic. There were a lot of
7:27
New Yorkers here, there's a lot of locals, and I'm a New Yorker
7:30
born and raised, so it's just a really strong community's been studying. So
7:41
thank you for taking time to talk to me about this whole whole experience.
7:44
Now, you know, you also probably meet to the city obviously, and
7:48
you deal for Washington. Difference between the island and the city, are they
7:53
noticeable for you, like accessibility wise, Mass transit can be hit or miss
7:58
if there's going to be an elevation or even an escalator. So I'm fortunate
8:05
enough that I can do okay with an escalator or with stairs as long as
8:09
I'm having, you know, like a good leg day where everything's feeling good.
8:13
But I know that people that are in a wheelchair or if maybe if
8:20
I'm not having a good leg day, generally things are not as accessible to
8:26
them. So you have to sort of be aware of where you're going and
8:28
have a plan of how I'm going to get to where I'm going. I'm
8:33
also doing this profile Mary because I feel like some people when they see people
8:37
of one leg or in a wheelchair, they just define them in that,
8:39
And I'm here to say no, we are defined by who we are what
8:43
we are doing in life. Right, So if someone does come up to
8:46
you and ask you what happened? Does that bother you? Do you mind
8:48
the curiosity? Like tell us about those experiences and people ask to you yes,
8:54
And I think to what I said earlier about me teaching med school right
9:01
after my accident, I think it's just natural curiosity, Like kids wonder like
9:05
why do you look different than me? And adults might think like, oh
9:09
no, don't ask questions like it's wrong, Like it's okay because they're just
9:13
curious. And adults have questions too. Maybe they realized they shodn't blurt them
9:18
out. But as long as people are respectful, I think some curiosity can
9:24
be natural. And I think for kids it's it's very intero. When they
9:28
see the crutches, they also see like they think we're robotic or something like
9:33
that. You know, it's it's interesting. I had that told to me
9:35
once when I was going through a summer past summer camp at Queen's College.
9:39
They were like, yeah, that guy looks like a robot. It was
9:41
kind of fun. It was funny because it came from a kid now an
9:45
adult. I don't know how I handle that, but anyway, very very
9:48
interesting. And now, Mary, what's next for you? How many races
9:52
are going to do this year that people maybe came alongside the Marathon? I
9:56
should say, well, the Achilles hoping possibility in June as well as I
10:03
will be there. I'm going to work to be there on June twenty fourth.
10:07
I cannot wait for that. It's a lot of fun. People come
10:11
from all over the country, all over the world to support Achilles International,
10:16
and it's a fantastic race. If you weren't able to get into the race,
10:20
just calm and cheer. We run Central Park and it's an unbelievable day.
10:26
Tell me about the finish line, because for me, the finishing finishing
10:31
a race, it used to kind of make me nervous when I was a
10:33
kid. Oh my god, they're loud and everything. But actually I've enjoyed
10:37
crossing the finish line with all that support literally behind me. You know,
10:41
as we run in. What does that like for you when you get all
10:43
that cheering? Lately in Central Park the races have been like uphill, uphill,
10:50
uphill, uphill for the last mile, and it's been pretty rough.
10:56
But at the race on Sunday in Central Park, when we hit that last
11:00
half mile, yes it was uphill, but the cheers were so loud.
11:05
I felt like I was in a stadium. It was so amazing, Like
11:11
I almost started crying as I was running at Like how beautiful. It was
11:18
really really fantastic. It doesn't have that energy. And by the way,
11:22
the racing community is very inclusive like that, like they will cheer on everybody
11:26
and it's fun. I've had a marathon runner when I finished one of them,
11:30
Ronald McDonald house runs back in the day, literally take off the jersey
11:35
was wearing against across the finish line. Gave it to me. That's how
11:37
inclusive the runners community is, you know. So I love that you've gotten
11:41
to experience that. What were you you're also triathlete? Tell us about that.
11:46
Also, were your triathlete prior to amputation as well? Like is that
11:50
something you did for a while? Also, I was a swimmer in high
11:54
school prior to imputation, so that gave me a little bit of a leg
11:58
up. People just that I know how to swim. It's a difficult sport
12:05
as an mputuh with all the transitions getting from here to there. Often races
12:13
when they start in the Long Island Sound in the ocean, everybody starts running
12:18
and running and running into the water until they can start swim. But for
12:22
you and me, we go hop hop hop hop hop hop pop hoop up.
12:28
But it's a lot of fun. It's still a lot of fun to
12:31
do racist and just to push yourself to do something that you're like, I'm
12:35
not sure if I can do it or not. You can do it.
12:39
Like I said earlier, anything that you set your mind to do, you'll
12:43
be able to achieve. Comfort zone do you have You're not afraid to go
12:48
out of your comfort zone obviously, but I feel like your comfort zone is
12:50
pretty large because you're doing all these different things. So what's a challenge you
12:54
get for you a long in addition to running that you want to tackle.
13:03
I'm working on riding a bicycle. That's cool. Yeah, it's part of
13:09
doing a triathlon. I do it. But it's a struggle being above the
13:16
knee amputee. It's something that involves, you know, having two knees so
13:20
I'm working on that. Very cool now. Biking for me is a little
13:26
a little tenuous, I feel like, So that's why I don't want to
13:28
jump on it. After you do a race, do you feel like you
13:33
have to sit down for a while or you wanted to go back out there?
13:35
Like, how's the recuperation process for you after finishing? Because for me,
13:39
I gotta lay in the grass in Central Park for like twelve hours,
13:41
you know what I mean? It's a lot. Well, I love to
13:46
cheer on and see who's still finishing. I'm not particularly fast yet, but
13:50
I'm a medium speed, so I'm not. When I first started running as
13:56
an MPT a few years ago, my goal was always to not be in
13:58
last place, and I've always met that goal. So if there's anyone I
14:03
can go back and cheer for, like I do that and cheer for the
14:07
people that are still racing before I hit the grass. Family, they seem
14:13
like, you're obviously very happy, You're very cheerful almost every day. I
14:16
could tell. They're very supportive of when it first happened through now obviously right,
14:22
So leave them by your side. Yes, definitely. I encourage Achilles
14:28
supports people that have both physical and mental disabilities. Their chapters not only in
14:33
New York but throughout the world. That's why it's Achilles International. And people
14:39
that just want to support Achilles can come and run as guides or support runners
14:43
and run with someone else and be their sport runners. So it's really inclusive
14:48
to everyone, it really is. And they've had me, they've tried to
14:52
get me enjoy them for a while, but I sort of was independent of
14:54
all that. But I'm going to jump in there on June and twenty four.
14:58
And it's also a great cost military because a lot of military vets actually
15:01
run in that also. Yes, yeah, they're called the Achilles Freedom Team.
15:07
Yes, and they run in the marathon too, I believe, and
15:09
whatnot? Right, And I just found it so much more fun, just
15:13
better running with someone else than by myself and just being part of a team.
15:18
So tell me about did the school have to make accommodations for you when
15:22
it first happened or were you able to just sort of go right into teaching
15:26
again, Like what was that process like going back into it? Not really
15:31
physical accommodations as a teacher, you can sit, sometimes, you can stand
15:35
sometimes. I was able to work through it pretty well. Now are you
15:41
in train's friends? Now I have to ask that, like, are you
15:45
okay to take a train? Does that traumatize you still? Or are you
15:48
okay to yeah? Uh yeah, it's different being here in New York.
16:00
I don't know. I guess it depends on the situation. Well, tell
16:03
me where are you originally from Port Washington in the city or where are you
16:06
from? Yes, I am very cool. So you've been alone in New
16:10
York or your whole life pretty much? Did Did the perspective change a little
16:17
bit after the amputation for you? Or was it still like, oh my
16:19
god, this is where the best city in the world. If something looked
16:23
like this was going to happen and it would, thank god it happened here
16:26
type of thing, like the perspective of the city change for you after this
16:30
happened. Well, it opened my eyes to a new community here. I
16:37
didn't know anything about the disabled or like physically adaptive community before I was an
16:45
amputee, And now I have several friends who are blind, friends with all
16:51
different kinds of disabilities, and just a huge community of fantastic people that I
16:59
knew nothing about before my injury. When the doctors told you all this stuff
17:04
and you were determined. I feel like you're you're the type that would get
17:08
out of the hospital two days later. Like, yeah, I get the
17:12
union. Spend much time in the hospital after you had leg imitated, right,
17:15
you were right back out there five months And that had to be because
17:21
you're you're obviously very active. That happy, A bit frustrating. How you
17:23
get through it? Yeah, my mom called me the impatient patient. Yeah,
17:30
it was a lot of I did a lot of I was an uh.
17:34
I did physical therapy, I did cognitive therapy because I had a head
17:40
injury. I did hand therapy, and I had a lot of reconstructive surgeries
17:45
on my leg and my hand. It wasn't easy it Yeah, it was.
17:55
It was a struggle, but I was always learning something new and just
17:59
striving to get better and to get healthier and to get out any fun adventures
18:04
with your leg, meaning like why you traveled? Do you travel a lot
18:07
out of state and go to different places. Last year, in November,
18:14
I was lucky enough to join limb Kind Foundation. They're a fantastic foundation that
18:18
provides limbs and counseling and mentoring to children in countries that the healthcare system isn't
18:30
quite overlooks let's put it that way. Yeah, And so I was fortunate
18:33
enough to travel with them to Ethiopia last November and they provided prosthetic legs to
18:44
I forget, maybe a lot of children, and I forget the exact number.
18:48
And I was there as an apt mentor to show them how I walked
18:52
up and downstairs in a way different than a physical therapist could, how I
18:56
did, how I played games. They asked me questions about if I had
19:00
a boyfriend, what my life was like, what you know, and just
19:03
to serve as a mentor, which was a really incredible experience. Now,
19:07
now, when did that happen? Pre pandemic, post pandemic, Uh,
19:11
pre pandemic about eight So then the pandemic comes and you have to say active
19:17
was running like one of the only ways we were able to get out of
19:18
the house. That is that kind of what got you out of the house
19:21
during the pandemic? Definitely, yeah, because it sounds like life didn't exactly
19:26
change it. It was life altering, but you didn't let it become live
19:30
altering. And I guess that's the point that people when this happens, that
19:33
may it a live altering thing. But maybe they don't happen. Maybe they
19:36
can just adapt to it as you have. Exactly, you can't let yourself
19:40
think like, oh, I'm not as smart as I used to be,
19:42
or I'm not as beautiful as I used to be, or things are harder.
19:45
Yes, like all that might be true. Things are a lot harder
19:48
for me now, But you can't let that stop you from pushing yourself to
19:52
be great and to do great things and to try your best. And if
20:00
you want to do something, then do it, and want to do big
20:03
things, then you will be able to do big things. Oh no,
20:06
absolutely, let me think I could you just hit a nerve there? And
20:10
I was gonna say, yeah, you don't. You don't let life stop
20:15
you, which is good anything. Would you ever try rollerblading? Have you
20:19
ever thought about that? Yeah? But I remember when I was a little
20:26
kid going ice skating with two legs and holding on to the wall, So
20:30
I imagine it might be like that. Do you ever have any phantom pains
20:34
or phantom things that you know you feel that leg still there? Yeah?
20:40
Sometimes definitely the leg, the fingers, I can feel them sometimes. I
20:45
guess My biggest question to you is you have this train accident, hat you
20:48
have this happen to you, But in the grand scheme of things, you
20:52
thank God or think, you know, thank the universe that that was all
20:56
that happened, because I mean it sounds like good. A lot worse than
21:00
that, Yes, one hundred percent, that's what I think all the time.
21:03
It could have been so much worse. I have my left hand,
21:08
I'm a left e. I have my leg that I need to drive a
21:12
car the other leg. Whatever, how much worse it could be, and
21:18
how lucky I am for what I have my I'm still able to go to
21:23
school. Like maybe you know, my head isn't as great as it used
21:29
to be, but it's okay, and so and I thank God that I
21:32
had my family by my side and my friends and for so many things.
21:37
So we always have to look at positives with the brain. Do you feel
21:42
like the thought process is a little different now than it was eight years ago,
21:48
Like you have to take a little longer time and do you get frustrated
21:51
with that time taking because here you see end like that, But you know,
21:55
maybe thinking it out a little more is a way you adapted. Yeah,
22:00
yeah, exactly, And we just all have to give ourselves some grace
22:03
because it was your speech impacted it all or not at all. Yeah,
22:12
definitely. I mean you can tell now that sometimes I'm thinking before I speak
22:15
because maybe my words don't come to me as fast. Well, I think
22:22
you speak really well. That's why I was curious if you had to go
22:25
through some speech after that whole traumatic thing. Any I would say, any
22:32
advice, I don't know, because Tray, you know, it's funny.
22:37
Me and my fiance actually crossed the light rail tracks in New Jersey. And
22:45
I'm guessing when this happened, you didn't had no idea the train was coming,
22:48
right, It just blindsided you type of thing. That's a lot.
22:53
That's very It sounds very random, actually, you know, like on a
22:57
red day? Was it? Where was it? Like what train tracks are
23:03
for? You don't mind, because I'm curious now. It's more deeper Long
23:06
Island than or where was that? No, I was actually living out of
23:11
state at the time. Oh, so it wasn't in New York. You're
23:15
hopefully safe in New York. So your family had to fly out there then,
23:19
right, because they obviously had to rush you in, right. Yeah,
23:22
And that's another reason why I felt so lucky to have such an amazing
23:26
family. My mom stayed by my side for months out of state, away
23:30
from the rest of her family. But by my side you have brothers,
23:34
sisters that support right. Yeah, now, I know you were there on
23:41
the turkey trot with that your family you were with you run with them?
23:47
Yep. Yeah. Every year, every Thanksgiving, everyone has to come home
23:51
to eat, so I rally them all up to run the turkey trot.
23:56
One last thing about the process itself, which I'm curious about, is when
24:03
you first started learning it. Did you pick it up right away or was
24:07
it something that was a week's progress or how quickly did you pick it up?
24:14
It took a while, you could say even months. Months? Yeah,
24:22
maybe maybe upwards of a year. I continue to go into physical therapy
24:26
to make sure I had it right. I wanted it to be so that
24:29
if I wore long pants, I would look my walking it would look just
24:32
like anybody else is walking, which I don't know if such perfection is attainable,
24:37
But I'm still trying. Tell me about the Uh, do you have
24:45
to pivot like? Because I when I have my like, I have to
24:47
pivot and all that or was it sort of centralized? We're don't have to
24:49
pivot your himps. You could just walk straight forward type of thing. Because
24:55
the reason why I actually stopped was because I had to pivot my whole left
24:57
side to move forward. It was kind of annoying, to be honest.
25:02
But you know, I don't know if yours is brain control. But they're
25:04
making all these new prosthetics. I've been following up on that. It's amazing
25:07
what they're doing with the advancements, and it makes me want to try again,
25:14
you know, like the fact that they can be brain powered. Do
25:15
you ever think about bringing to that type of thing or not? Really?
25:18
No, Yeah, technology can do a lot. Mine is not brain powered,
25:22
but like neurons, like your butt muscles, you use to like make
25:29
sure it does ever stall on you the leg or not really Yeah, I
25:33
mean things are never as perfect as it would be with uh, two legs,
25:38
but you have to be prepared for anything could happen. When when do
25:48
you take it off? Take the leg off? Like what's that comfort zone?
25:52
Like? Well, when I'm around the house, I wear shorts because
25:55
that's easier so that you can adjust the leg or I mean I can adjust
25:59
the leg when I to, or take it off when I need to,
26:02
and then put it back on pretty easily. I got to connect with Dana
26:07
Bowman. He's a guy who is a double amputee and he has all these
26:11
other things. He's an athlete as well. You guys would make a great
26:14
connection, I think, because he's always doing all the speaking and talking about
26:18
it. And I know it might be a little tough for you to become
26:22
a public speaker, but people see that and they probably want to know more
26:26
about who you are, right, I mean, I'm sure you got people
26:29
coming up to you after the rights. Hey, tell me about this,
26:30
tell me about that, Like how you been doing this type of questions?
26:34
Right? M hm yeah, yep, same same here. And I've been
26:40
doing it as I was three years old, So it's been The New York
26:42
Roads community has been incredible. And you know about not finishing last and everything.
26:49
I always got frustrated because the kids were a lot bigger than me.
26:52
I do the peewee races and I'd be on walker or I'd be on my
26:56
crutches, and I never felt fast enough. But eventually I realized, you
27:00
know, you gotta and you're going to finish at your own pace. That's
27:03
what it's about. It's about crossing the line more than just worrying about who's
27:07
ahead of you, who's behind you. And my father always had never looked
27:10
behind, just keeps looking straight. That's under Well, Mary, this has
27:14
been great and let us know your progress as you train. Are you training
27:18
for the marathon right now? Yeah? I guess I should be. Yeah,
27:21
because Sunday's run was pretty five mile like eight, I was like,
27:26
oh, man, are we there yet? And then by mile ten I
27:29
was like, so, I think you're being missed. You probably have a
27:33
lot of points under your belt from the New York Owners to qualify, right,
27:37
I mean, were you able to how did you qualify for the marathon?
27:40
Or did we're able to just sign in? Just luck I entered the
27:42
lottery and they picked my number. Amazing. Well that's going to be something.
27:48
And of course when you see Mary Johnson on the road, she's more
27:52
than just a person with one leg running your race, right. That's the
27:53
whole point is you've got a career, you've got things going for, You're
27:56
going to graduate with the Battoris in the I mean, congratulations on that again.
28:02
So I want to thank you for coming on to talk about your journey
28:07
and come back soon. I'd love to have you on. Thank you so
28:10
much. All right, Well to cap off LIMB Lost Awareness Month. I
28:15
want to tell you a story. It's on my Instagram right now, Alex
28:18
g NYC one. But I want to bring the person that I got a
28:22
picture with impensation because imagine rollerblading on one right leg on my rollerblade, and
28:29
then I look over and there's someone with just a left leg, and I
28:33
thought this could be the most themetrical picture I've ever taken. Aaron Zwig is
28:38
my guest today. Aaron, you are the subject of that picture with me,
28:42
because I thought this is so unique, someone with the right and someone
28:45
just left. I mean, how often did that happen? Right? I
28:48
know that's so true. My first thought was, you know, what was
28:52
your shoe size? We can swap all of those extra shoes we have.
28:56
Oh, I love that. We gotta do we gotta work on that extine
28:59
program. You know, I did you stab someone who did that exchange in
29:02
Atlanta back in the day, But you know it was it was funny to
29:07
me and because I'm normally not uncomforable going up to people. I like to
29:12
approach people if I find them interesting. But here, you know, I
29:15
find the same thing. I don't like when someone comes out to me and
29:18
says, you know, hey, what happened to your leg or something like
29:22
that. But I guess it was acceptable with you because you and I can
29:23
relate in that regard. And then I said, let's get a picture.
29:27
So first of all, now people have seen the picture, tell me a
29:32
lot about your story, Aaron, and how you navigate New York City on
29:37
just a left leg. I love this. Yeah, yeah, no,
29:40
thank you for having me. And I think you first, you raise a
29:42
good point, right which I think a lot of people's curiosity supersedes our right
29:48
to privacy. But I think for us the curiosity is a little is a
29:52
little different, right because we want to know, like you're saying, how
29:57
we navigate New York and all that. So obviously no offense of you coming
30:03
up or anything like that. I'm very happy you did. So. My
30:07
my story, you know, starts like a lot of ours did when we're
30:11
when we're kids, and to you know, keep it a little bit on
30:17
the on the shorter side. Basically, I had a virus called MYR karditis,
30:25
which just inflamed some of my heart valves, heart muscles, and basically
30:30
while they were monitoring the blood flow in my leg, there was a blood
30:34
clot. So I've been on crutches now for for twenty years. That was
30:41
back in Hong Kong and now navigating New York. You know, it's not
30:47
it's not the most successful city. I think we are very fortunate as I
30:52
mean, I only got to see you very briefly, but it looks like
30:56
both of us are are pretty adept at getting around the city. But you
31:02
know, when it comes to subways and accessibility and buildings and elevators and all
31:04
that, it's quite messy. So love seeing you rollerblading. I've been thinking
31:08
about doing that for a while now. I used to skateboard, very similar
31:14
kind of functionality right to just standing on it, and I've done that a
31:19
little bit on stage at least a talent show. I was on the skateboard
31:22
once. I'm always nervous about my balance though on that type of thing.
31:26
But no, skateboarding is fun. Now what what a what somebodies are you
31:33
able to do? And do you like to do? Yeah? So I've
31:37
been a big swimmer, ever ever since I lost my leg. You know,
31:41
my father at the time thought that that would be the sport that would
31:47
kind of hinder me the least in competing against bipeds. Uh And for the
31:52
most part, I think he was he was right, you know. I
31:56
I've had a pretty good swimming so I'm in a lot of a lot of
32:02
places and in Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Israel about ten years ago,
32:13
so in the US as well, so I've been doing that a lot,
32:16
like rock climbing as well. Soccer is a big thing. I don't
32:20
know if you ever played, but having three points of contact on a ball
32:22
instead of two is a very big help. So yeah, just try to
32:27
stay you know, physically fit. But I really do like spending as much
32:30
time in the water as I can. I know swimming is not my strength
32:35
strength because I find pushing off the leg is that's the fun part. But
32:39
when I go under, I had an actual experience where I lost the floating
32:43
when I was in first grade, so that was that was a little traumatic
32:46
and I have not really want to go in ever since. Anyway, those
32:50
things stay with us, so my mom always tells me that's a very vital
32:53
life skill to have is to know how to swim. So it's awesome you
32:57
do that now. The other thing, and you mentioned earlier that you were
33:00
intrigued by rollerblade, and I love to teach you, by the way,
33:04
I love that. When I came up to you and you're like, you
33:06
know, I've been thinking about doing this for a while, I said,
33:07
well, hey, here we go, let's let's let's skate together. Then,
33:09
right, I know, I really, I really do want to learn.
33:14
It just seems like such an easy way of getting around. Do you
33:17
find a balance on that is easier than a skateboard? I don't want to
33:22
admit it in public, but I do lift up my crutches and skate down
33:25
sixth Avenue on the bike lane or aside from it, and just let the
33:29
cool breeze hit my face as I roll a blade. So I do like
33:31
to do that kind of trickery if you will. You know what? Fair
33:35
enough you mentioned privacy, and I want to ask you this. When someone
33:38
do you find people come up to you first of all, or do they
33:42
just say, okay, you know he's there, but I'm not going to
33:45
approach him because don't know. How do you find people approaching you not so
33:47
much. Do you like people approaching you? Like, what's your take on
33:50
that? Yeah, I assume it's similar to you where you know, people
33:55
people come up to me all the time. Often it could just be somebody
34:01
coming by and saying God bless you and then keep walking, which I'm not
34:07
a fan of. But you know, here's my thought. I don't like
34:13
when people look at us and and think of us as a person with one
34:19
or a one legged person before they think of us as a person with one
34:22
leg. So if they just come up to us and start asking, you
34:24
know, what happened all of this, it just kind of makes you feel
34:30
like a talking point and not really like a human. So, you know,
34:34
the other way of doing it is, you know I've made you know,
34:37
if I'm at a party talking to somebody and you know, hey,
34:39
an hour into the conversation, they're like, yeah, when did that happen?
34:43
Like how is that? You know? Is that important? Has that
34:45
always been that way? Whatever? Then that, you know, that feels
34:49
a lot more normal again, not just trying to set your own curiosity by
34:54
going up to some random stranger and being like, what the hell happened to
34:58
you? You know, And then I think when people do that, they've
35:02
already made also a lot of judgments about who you are and what those you
35:07
know implications are. So like, I had somebody come up to me recently
35:10
and ask about it, just while I was at a museum, and then
35:15
they were like, oh, it's nice to see you didn't give up,
35:16
And I'm like, give up? What are you talking about? You're just
35:19
making these assumptions, right, it's not actually having a conversation, or they
35:22
say why aren't you on disability? Why are you working? Why are you
35:25
existing? Right? I hate that question too, but because when someone asked
35:30
me why aren't you on disability? Why are you moving around? It almost
35:32
feels like they're saying why are you existing right now? Doesn't it? Yeah,
35:37
why are you going about your day like this? Why are you not
35:40
taking the easy route? Since you know this traumatic and bad thing has happened
35:45
to you and I don't know about you, but like it has not been
35:47
traumatic or bad like most things. Yeah, there are cons, but to
35:52
be honest, in my life at least there's been more pros than cons from
35:57
having one leg. Well, I am always saying the reason why I highlight
36:00
those who have amputees is amputation is because I was very fortunate to just be
36:06
born like this, And so yeah, I feel like to highlight people who
36:09
haven't amputees is going to pay it forward. You know that you mentioned God's
36:14
blessing. I feel like it's to pay forward to other amputees who may not
36:17
be ready to get out up and about. Right. So here you're saying
36:22
you can do it. That's basically the whole point of all. You can
36:24
do it. That's what you're telling the world every day, right Yeah,
36:28
and not only that, but saying that the initial gut reaction shouldn't be you
36:32
know, oh that's tough, it should just be Again, I was seven,
36:37
so like you. I mean you were you know, younger than me
36:39
when you were born without a leg. But seven, I don't have any
36:43
memories with a leg, right, So I don't think that the first gut
36:49
reaction should be, oh shit, life is bad because of you know,
36:54
missing a leg or missing an arm or all of these things. Right,
36:58
So yeah, I'm with you. I think anyone who's you know, if
37:01
they've lost their leg at an older age, yes, that is definitely more
37:07
tough, but it's it's a great community, and I think, you know,
37:10
every day is at least when you're figuring it out, is really fun.
37:14
You have to figure out ways to do things that other people don't,
37:16
right, like you rollerblading like that. That's that's exciting when you're looking at
37:21
a like a rock climbing wall and I'm going, hey, you know I
37:23
have I'm using my upper body mostly here, but I am lighter, so
37:29
can I figure out a way to do it? Like it? It does
37:31
state a certain uh you know, curiosity that I have for just going about
37:37
the world as well. You know, I saved this interview for the last
37:42
day of the month only because I feel like the conversation should continuing to May.
37:45
I often feel like when these are where awareness months are done, all
37:49
right, that's it, you know, But honestly, uh, it always
37:52
it's every day you know that we bring awareness of the world just by moving
37:57
about. And in that regards, Aaron, I bring you on and say,
38:00
you know you're also working, right to tell us a little bit about
38:01
your your occupation, what you're doing every day in New York. I'm curious.
38:07
Yeah, no, it's a good question. So I recently got my
38:14
master's in environmental science and policy, and I currently work to help companies with
38:21
you know, benchmarking their carbon footprint hopefully then also reducing their carbon emissions and
38:25
figuring out where they kind of lend environmentally speaking. It's a really big field
38:30
right now. And you know, a lot of problems in the world,
38:34
and happy that I get to play a part in at least one of them.
38:38
I want to say, you mentioned China, and I see you're highlighted
38:42
in the South China Morning Post August for twenty thirteen. That is so cool.
38:45
But tell us about the healthcare differences between there and here? Is there
38:50
any differences? Was there was there a culture shock to actually move around there
38:53
compared to moving around in New York. Tell us the differences. That is
38:58
a really interesting question. And I'm going to start with the second one,
39:00
just because I've thought about that more while I let that first one percolate in
39:07
the back of my mind a bit. Yeah, so the moving around is
39:10
very interesting, I will say, compared to a lot of other places countries,
39:15
at least the US, even though accessibility is not great in New York,
39:21
is pretty good overall, you know, in Hong Kong and even in
39:24
Europe it's often just an afterthought and they're not really ashamed as much sometimes to
39:31
say like, well, if you can't get into that building, then that's
39:35
just not accessible to you. Is that true everywhere in the US. No,
39:39
you know that there are a lot of people that feel the same way.
39:42
But I think disability is a higher priority here than in other places.
39:52
But again that's not always true, right. I remember I went to Coney
39:55
Island recently and there was basically almost no ride I was allowed to ride on
40:00
because they were worried that without the straps being in the way that they were,
40:07
it wouldn't be safe enough. In Hong Kong. Hong Kong is very
40:12
mountainous, so it isn't the best in terms of just getting around because there
40:15
is a lot of walking. So yeah, it can be tricky, but
40:22
I think, you know, you figure out where you were going, you
40:23
figure out your routine, and we adapt, right like you figured out rollerblading
40:29
and I got into skateboarding and that made going around hills and stuff a lot
40:34
easier. Well in terms of go ahead, no, no, yeah,
40:38
you're gonna into your working and then what we're going to actually pick this up
40:42
on Thursday as well? I want to have an extending conversation with you because
40:45
this is awesome, but I want to get people all the introduction to who
40:46
you are, but tell us a little bit about what you're working, because
40:49
I'm curious for today on April thirty. Yeah, so I'm a ESG client
40:57
relationship manager at a company called Haltara, which is a branch or department,
41:06
if you will, of Apex Group. That didn't bring me to the city.
41:09
That my sister who moved here first. I followed them to New York
41:17
and have been very happy and living in Brooklyn. And I know we're out
41:23
of time, but I'm happy to talk more about it next time. Yes,
41:28
definitely, you're gonna definitely join us back on one leg up with Alex
41:30
Garrett Aaron's wig. It was one last thing. It's a synergy. That
41:35
was a synergy moment right when the people with the right synergy, New York
41:37
City will bring those people together. And that picture in that moment in still
41:42
my belief in that. By the way, I agree, I think that
41:45
is one magical thing about New York. And on that note, we're gonna
41:50
pick it up here on Thursday to continue start with Aaron's WYG but thanks for
41:53
joining me on the final day of them lost awareness months. Can't wait to
41:57
continue the conversation