San Diegan Kelly Bruno, a sprinter who has broken world records in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes at the Paralympic level, is also an ultra-marathon runner who has also set the record for female below-the-knee amputees at the Iron Man World championships and competed on the reality show "Survivor".
Bruno was born with a medical condition that caused her fibula to not fully form and at the age of 6 months, her parents had the lower part of her right leg amputated.
"I think one of the hardest things was seeing everyone else around me that didn’t have a disability and didn’t have a prosthetic leg, and just feeling like I was different," Bruno said.
Despite that, Bruno was always full of energy and got involved with everything from tee-ball to swimming to soccer as a young kid. Her athleticism was eventually channeled into running, and she was introduced to a group of young amputees who were equally passionate about the sport. She said it was the first time she felt like she had a community that truly understood her, and it inspired her.
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"People may have different abilities," Bruno said. "That’s not good or bad, it's just that’s what they're born with or they have left, and what do you do with that, how do you make the most of it, how do you adapt and live a full life?"
Bruno's experience with pain and prosthetics led her to become a pain doctor. She said she still feels pain and sometimes wishes she had two legs, but, overall, she believes what many other people would call a disability has actually been an opportunity for her.
"It would be so much easier to have two legs, but there are a lot of times I realize the opportunities that I have been presented with and what I’ve been able to do with my life, and I probably wouldn’t have had those opportunities having not been an amputee," Bruno said.
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Bruno's goals include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
If she had an opportunity to talk to her younger self, Bruno said she would tell her: "I really wish someone had kind of held my hand and told me it was all going to be OK. Those were probably my darkest times: When you were really struggling with being OK, with being different, and as an adult, I found that you know being unique is actually an amazing quality. We're all given gifts and we need to share those."
