Janine Shepherd's story reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie. A champion cross-country skier in training for the Winter Olympics, her life was irrevocably altered when she was hit by a truck on a bike ride. Doctors warned her parents that she was not expected to survive her extensive injuries and even if she recovered, she would never walk again. Janine's hopes of being an elite athlete were gone. But Janine refused to believe what the medical professionals were telling her and instead she focused every sinew of her being on healing her broken body and crushed morale. After spinal surgery an months in the hospital, she returned home in a wheelchair.
Struggling to come to terms with her shattered Olympic dreams, and wondering what life could now offer, Janine's fighting spirit was rekindled watching small planes flying overhead. At that moment she said to herself, If I can't walk, I'll fly.
Today, Janine Shepherd is a walking paraplegic; she is also a qualified commercial pilot and aerobatics instructor, international speaker and best-selling author. Once voted as one of the world's most outstanding and inspirational people, Janine devotes her professional life to empowering others to overcome adversity.
Learn more about Janine Shepherd here. Watch the video of Janine's presentation "You Are Not Your Body" at TEDxKC
