When Boris Vujicic found out that his son Nick would be born with Tetra-amelia syndrome—a rare disorder characterised by the absence of all four limbs—he couldn’t have imagined that he would flourish into the man he is today. Now, Nick is an inspirational speaker, a New York Times best-selling author, and a hard-working husband and father.
Photo: nickvujicic on Instagram
In his book Raising the Perfectly Imperfect Child: Facing the Challenges with Strength, Courage, and Hope, Boris wrote about how he and his wife learned that their son could do so much in spite of his physical disabilities.
“We learned early on with Nick that it was wise not to bet against him or to place any sorts of limits on him. Time and again, he not only proved us wrong; our son flat-out amazed us. In the spring of 2015, Nick posted a video on his Facebook page that serves as a perfect illustration of this point in several ways. First of all, when Nick was born without limbs, we never dreamed he would be able to move about on his own. Second, we thought it was highly unlikely he would ever marry. Third, we thought he would never have children.”
“How foolish it is to place limits on our disabled and special-needs children.”
“The child whose birth made us despair has proven to be such an incredible blessing. This particular video is one of hundreds of inspiring videos Nick has done. They all serve as testimonials to how foolish it is to place limits on our disabled and special-needs children.”
Nick couldn’t have become the person he is today without the support of his parents, who refused to put limitations on their child.
“I’m just so proud of my parents and thankful to God for my parents who really had the courage to try new things and… explore what their son without arms and legs could really do.”
Photo: nickvujicic on Instagram
Nick was two and a half years old when he got his first wheelchair. “It was so cool to be independent and drive that little thing with my little foot,” he said in a Facebook video promoting his father’s book. “I’m just so proud of my parents and thankful to God for my parents who really had the courage to try new things and… explore what their son without arms and legs could really do. No one knew the limitations until we hit them.”