• 3 days ago
Abandoned at birth and adopted by an American, she is now the leading star of Team USA at the Beijing Paralympian Games. But her story begins in Ukraine, in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster ...

This is the extraordinary story of Oksana Masters.
Transcript
00:00Don't be afraid to look different or be different or try to hide how you look because your differences
00:19are what's making you irreplaceable in this world.
00:22Coming from the background I came from, I wasn't able to express with my words and
00:35so I internalized a lot of things and just kept it in and sports was something that I
00:40would be able to let my feelings out.
01:10She never gave up on me, she kept fighting for me, she was told multiple times, we have
01:32a baby here, we have a baby there, you wanted a baby anyways and she said no, this is my
01:39daughter and this is all going off by a picture, she just saw a picture of me.
01:43One thing I got with my mom was like instant connection, I instantly felt safe, this was
01:47my mom, I know that, you know, that's my mom.
02:01I had required so many medical needs that it was hard for anybody to upraise a child
02:09with so many medical needs.
02:11I went on the water and just took my prosthetic leg off and pushed off, I've never felt like
02:20I belonged more, anywhere more than in that moment in my life.
02:51Cycling is one of those sports, anything can happen, like you get a flat tire and your
02:57chances are done.
03:21I love that stage from starting from the bottom and working all the way up, no matter where
03:28you are, what you've achieved.