Amy Purdy

Biography

Amy Michelle Purdy (born November 7, 1979) is an American actress, model, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, clothing designer, author, podcaster, and retired para-snowboarder. She is a 2014 Paralympics bronze medalist, 2018 Paralympics silver medalist, and co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports. She is the host of a critically-acclaimed podcast about resilience called “Bouncing Forward.” She has also competed on Dancing with the Stars.

When she was 19 years old, she contracted Neisseria meningitidis, a form of bacterial meningitis. The disease affected her circulatory system when the infection led to septic shock; both of her legs had to be amputated below the knee, she lost both kidneys, and her spleen had to be removed. Doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival. Two years later, she received a kidney transplant from her father.

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