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| Photo by Mika Orolfo |
With this year’s theme being announced by the United Nations as Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world, UST-CASA Chronicle would like to celebrate the similarities shared by people regardless of background or condition: the desire to be so much more than what the world perceives you as.
In no particular order, we would like to share the stories of individuals, unique in their own ways, who refused to let their disabilities dictate their life. These are the stories of people who, in doing and following their passion, have helped break stigmas.
Stephen Hawking
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| Photo by NASA |
Diagnosed with a slow-progressing motor neurone disease at the young age of 21, Hawking has always been a man of intelligence and humor; he found his academic work at the University of Oxford "ridiculously easy" and faked his own death in a comedic prank during a CNN interview. He is most known for his discovery of the Hawking Radiation theory aside from his other scientific contributions to cosmology and gravity. Among various honors, he also received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, in 2009.
Hawking was also famous for outliving his projected life expectancy by decades. With a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or commonly known as ALS, he was only expected to live for a couple of years. He died at the age of 76—a true inspiration to the disabled and abled—defying his ALS and contributing his genius to the world.
Frida Kahlo
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| Kahlo's self-portrait, Me and My Parrots, painted in 1941 |
Suffering from polio at the age of 6 and experiencing a car accident that left her with intermittent pain for the rest of her life at age 18, Kahlo did not actually plan to be a painter. Her original plan to pursue medicine was derailed by the latter accident. Lying in a bed in a full-body cast, her parents gave her a specially-made easel she could paint with. Her recovery from the accident sparked the desire to begin again. Despite her immense talent, she did not consider art as her first career.
Kahlo’s art, despite mostly being depictions of herself, is representative of Mexico’s culture and the universality of the feelings and experiences she underwent. This universality is most apparent in the diverse groups who all celebrated Kahlo’s art: LGBTQIA+ groups considered Kahlo an icon for her attraction to the innate creativity of both men and women; feminists who were appreciative of Kahlo’s candid portrayals of womankind; and persons with disabilities who looked up to Kahlo’s refusal to let her disability hold her back from doing what she loved most.
Hellen Keller
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| Photo from the Helen Keller Archive |
Rendered blind and deaf from an illness at 19 months old, it is difficult to imagine what life would be like for the rest of your life. Keller described living with an illness as living ‘at sea in a dense fog,’ yet she grew up having a strong connection to the world through her enjoyment of music by feeling its beat, distinguishing people by the vibrations of their footsteps, and spelling out words by ‘making fingers go in monkey-like imitation.’ She would go on to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree, which she completed in 1904.
A humanitarian whose lack of sight and hearing did not stop her from making an impact on the world, her activism for causes that involved women, particularly with their rights to vote and birth control, in addition to her beliefs in peace, has made her an inspiration to many people all over the world.
Never shy about her lack of sight and hearing, she managed to raise awareness and eventually make the world a better place through the development of modern teaching methods for children with disabilities. Her prominent activism would then obtain her a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and also help in giving a better life for individuals like her.
Nick Vujicic
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| Photo from Getty Images |
Born without arms and legs, Vujicic has given around 3,500 talks in around 63 countries as of 2019. While most would consider Vujicic’s disability to be a huge hindrance to finding fulfillment in life, he considers the mind to be the greatest disability. Despite being refused academic admission early in life, he has managed to earn two degrees with a presidential term in a student council.
The establishment of his non-government organization, Life Without Limbs, in 2005, allowed Vujicic to travel the world to talk all about the difficulties he has experienced. The prime example of life’s lack of hesitation in rewarding those who persevere, Vujicic has inspired many and made a name for himself despite the absence of limbs.
Alex Zanardi
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| Photo from Motorsport |
When Zanardi lost his legs in a car crash during a race in the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in 2001, he immediately thought, "How the hell am I going to do all the things I have to do with no legs?" A professional racing car driver, Zanardi has won two CART championships and has raced in Formula One during the 1990s. Zanardi is and has always been a person of positivity and greatness, the latter also most evident in his handcycling win at the 2011 New York City Marathon.
His commitment to his passion sets him apart from other race car drivers, and that was also what raised him to the bar of true excellence that only a few other people have achieved. He is determined and he is the very definition of perseverance. While many people who would have lost their legs in doing their passions would have given their passions up, Zanardi did not let this stop him from driving in racetracks and engaging in sports that were just as demanding as race car driving.
Zanardi, despite his setbacks with another racing accident in 2020 and a 2022 hospitalization due to a house fire, has lived a life that doesn’t seem to have had a life-changing injury in 2001. After driving a specially modified F1 car for BMW Sauber, he said, ‘Wow, if that guy can achieve that with no legs, I can at least go down to the grocery store rather than live my life passively.’
