Legless girl. Legless girl was able to love her imperfect body

This 26-year-old girl has a bewitching combination of strength and weakness. In a dress and on heels, she seems fragile - but she is a world and European champion in swimming. She has no arms - but look how she does push-ups! She has an open cheerful smile - but despair does not always bypass her.

Anastasia Diodorova, silver medalist of the Paralympic Games, gold medalist of the World Championships (in Rio de Janeiro and Montreal) in swimming among athletes with a lesion of the musculoskeletal system. She knows how not to give up, even when they are not. On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we asked Nastya about how she lives and what helps her to be strong.

About how it all happened

I was born and raised in Moscow, - says Anastasia. - As a child, my family and I went to my grandmother in Yakutia every year. When I was 3 years old, I went for a walk in the village and climbed into a transformer box. Bare wires, 10,000 kilovolt electric shock. Hands charred immediately. Amputation, numerous operations. I lived in hospitals for about two years. The company responsible for the accident paid for my treatment. At the age of 5, I went to Germany for prosthetics. When the prostheses were ready, I remember that I really liked pushing the stroller with the doll with new hands.

About parents

My parents raised me as an independent person, - says Nastya. - I was never singled out in the family. I had the same household chores as my older brother and sister. I dusted, watered the flowers.

Nastya learned to do everything with her feet, even to hold a needle and thread. The dentures were uncomfortable. It is now that “smart” prostheses have appeared, and it was very difficult for a child to get used to those that were made at that time.

About constraint

I went to the first grade with prostheses, - says Anastasia. - Not for long, only two weeks, so as not to embarrass classmates. The dentures were uncomfortable and I stopped wearing them. Everyone knew anyway.

At first, at school, Nastya wrote with her foot - and was embarrassed by this. Therefore, the class teacher stayed with her during the breaks - and then Nastya wrote dictations and assignments that the rest of the guys did in the lesson.

And in the fifth grade, I already started writing in the classroom, because there was too much information, it was difficult to remember everything, - she says. - And then came a brilliant idea: to sit and write on chairs. I sit on one chair and write on the other.

At the university, as the girl notes, it was already much easier to study:

All adults, everyone understands, there are no unnecessary questions, like children have: what is it, and how, and why. But even as a child, I was not shy, told what happened to me.

Anastasia graduated from Russian State University physical education, sports and tourism. Currently studying at the Russian Academy National economy and civil service with a degree in sports management.

About sports career

When five-year-old Nastya was on prosthetics in Germany with her parents, her mother found out about the Paralympic Games. Parents decided that their daughter would be in big sport. True, they planned to raise a champion in athletics, but it turned out - in swimming.

I work out in the pool every day, - says Nastya. - When training days, classes in the pool in the morning and evening. I get up at 6:30, after 2 hours I'm already swimming. In the evening training from 16:00 to 19:00. If things have accumulated between workouts, I solve them. If not, then I go home to sleep. I try not to miss this opportunity. Training, of course, is exhausting, often I don’t get enough sleep, but the less free time, the more time you have.

In 2008, Anastasia brought the Russian Paralympic team a silver medal at the Beijing Games. At the next Paralympics, the athlete failed to break into the top three, so she really hoped to be rehabilitated at the Games in Rio.

In London in 2012, I performed poorly: I took only 7th and 8th places, the girl continues. - The coach and I took into account the mistakes and redid the training program. Everything should have turned out differently, but we were not allowed to the Games. Of course it was a big blow. All 4 years you plowed like Papa Carlo with one thought - that you will go and demonstrate your best result.

About life outside of sports

Now the load has become less, - says Nastya. - I immersed myself in my studies, in everyday affairs and worries. Life doesn't end. Now I want to build a career not in sports, but in another field, I plan to work in the field of sports management. Of course, I dream of participating in the organization of major competitions - the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Of despair and sadness

I don’t even know where I get my strength from, because sometimes it’s very hard. You really have to prove something to yourself every day. Every single day, every morning, I wake up and understand that I have advanced only a millimeter to the target, and there are still 500 million kilometers ahead. But the forces somehow find me, they come from somewhere.

The best cure for depression is to find how to keep yourself busy, says Nastya. - You need to find your the best sides and develop them. AND weaknesses you can pull up - do physical education, sports. It is not difficult. You need to allocate a certain time and practice every day.

13

The girl lost both legs in 1983 while walking in Kindergarten. She ran out onto the road and was hit by a truck. Li's life changed in an instant. At the age of 8, she learned to "walk" again. Two wooden stools help the girl.

Another person, finding himself in a similar situation, might despair in her place. But Lee is distinguished by the desire to live, learn and be useful. The girl wanted with all her heart to become a doctor. Li left her village to enter Medical College. She graduated in 2000.

Lee has been taking care of patients in his native village for 15 years. “I just do what I have to. Even if I didn’t get paid, I would still continue to work as a rural doctor,” the girl shared.

Li Yuhong measures blood pressure.

She provided assistance to almost every inhabitant of her village and nearby settlements.

Li lives in the small Chinese village of Wadian in the southwest of the country. It seems that her work is a real feat, but she thinks otherwise. She just loves to do what she loves. It's not easy for the girl, but seeing how her patients recover, Lee understands that one should not relax and feel sorry for oneself. She is truly needed.

Lee examines the homes of patients who different reasons can't come to see her.

In her 15 years of work, Lee demolished 30 wooden stools.

Lee truly loves his job.

The girl charges her patients with optimism.

She does not lose willpower, endurance and patience.

Li married a man named Xing from her home village. Xing quit his job to help around the house and carry his wife to patients in his arms when Li can't reach them on his own. Sometimes he takes her to neighboring villages if the patients are too old or in serious condition. Li manages 300 houses, where about 1,000 people live.

Li's husband helps her walk the long distance to the patient's home.

AT recent times Lee also uses a chair, but it's not always suitable for the rough roads around the farms.

Xing supports his wife in everything.

Lee's story inspires and strengthens faith in goodness.

The legless beauty from the movie "Mermaid" was left without funds and without work

Today Veronika Skugina lives in the northern capital with friends

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At the Fifth Festival "Cinema Without Barriers" in Sochi this fall, Anna Belyankina's film "... Nika ..." received the Grand Prix. The heroine is the legless actress Veronika Skugina. The girl is known to the audience for her bright role in Anna Melikyan's film "Mermaid". A disabled hooligan, laughingly destroying a cosmetic store with the main character, is a symbol of an indifferent glamorous world.

Veronica says she doesn't look like her character in Mermaid at all. However, she is also prone to risky actions - she does not want to live in the provincial town where she was born, to exist on benefits in a room in a nursing home - where the state provided the orphan with living space. Once Nika packed up her belongings and waved to conquer the capital.

And what to do in Volkhov? Skugin says. - Sleep in your little room? I want to live, work in the cinema, develop.

Veronica lost her legs in a car accident. She and her father were driving in a car to the dentist when a drunk driver of the Volga crashed into the car (later it turned out that the policeman fell asleep at the wheel). The father died instantly, the ten-year-old girl was squeezed by the seat. A traumatic brain injury, one leg was completely broken, the other was shattered into pieces - the doctors did not manage to collect it. The girl lay in a coma for a long time, the doctors did not hope that she would survive.

But a miracle happened - after months of dreary hopelessness, Veronica went on the mend. Today she does not like to remember those days - everything was too hard. She only says that she accepted the news that she was left without legs without tantrums. I realized the full horror of the tragedy while still there, in the car, in the moments when my consciousness cleared up.

The legless girl had nowhere to study in her hometown, her mother sent her daughter to a boarding school for the disabled. When Nike was fourteen, her mother died.

She experienced grief, clenching her teeth, she was well aware that she had lost the last loved one. Her relatives did not care about her, no one else came to visit the boarding school. I studied, gained strength and again learned to enjoy life.

I was almost driven to the grave by the scandalous program of Andrei Malakhov on Channel One, ”recalls the actress. - I seriously then decided to commit suicide. I was invited to the program to talk about the problems of the disabled, but they called me a prostitute. They accused me of earning my living in this way. Our people believe in television unquestioningly. When I returned to my city, they simply did not let me pass. They called me names, offered money for intimate services. And I fought in response to nasty proposals! I think that it is ugly, but then I could not endure these humiliations.

However, in addition to humiliation, Malakhov's program brought fame. Nika was seen by the director of "Mermaid" Anna Melikyan and invited to her film for the role of a legless hooligan, an accidental girlfriend of the main character.

Veronica then did not think long about the proposal. I threw my things into a suitcase and left for Moscow.

There was success, and then there was great love. After the series, - said Veronica. - Life has become easier. People finally looked at me with different eyes.

Later new job in the series "Word to a Woman", where a legless girl was offered to work as a script supervisor - an assistant script director. In between filming, she met director Belyankina. Anna was amazed at the courage, cheerfulness of the legless beauty. Then she decided to make her film about Veronica.

For almost four years, love continued with the operator - Alexei. Together they went to the shooting. Nika worked as a “watch for mistakes” - she made sure that foreign objects did not get into the frame, often her work was only on a voluntary basis. And if they did, it was very little. However, money was not the main thing for Veronica, it is important that she did what she loved in life.

I don’t particularly aspire to an acting career, Veronica says today. - But I really love cinema and I'm glad if it happens to work on the creation of a picture.

It has long been an acquaintance with Alexei's parents, friends thought that the wedding was about to take place. However, a happy family was not destined to work out - Veronica and Alexei broke up this spring.

Today Veronika Skugina lives without housing and practically without work and money with friends in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, where there are more opportunities to get into a serial project, into your favorite movie, you don’t want to return at all - the sad memories of the departed love are oppressed ... And still, she does not give up. For twenty years, not a sweet life at all legless beauty I learned to endure and overcome any difficulties.

This woman may be best example overcoming difficulties. In 2014, Mandy Horvath lost both of her legs in a horrific accident. The rapists gave the girl an alcoholic cocktail with a drug to drink, and left her ...

This woman can be the best example of overcoming difficulties.

In 2014, Mandy Horvath lost both of her legs in a horrific accident.

The rapists gave the girl an alcoholic cocktail with a drug to drink, and threw her unconscious on railway where she was run over by a train.

When medical workers brought Horvath to the hospital, they assumed that she had tried to commit suicide.

When she regained consciousness, the girl told the doctors that she had been the victim of an attack. Unfortunately, it was too late to test her blood for foreign substances.

Today, three years after the horrific incident, Horvath is confident and has a wicked sense of humor.

On Instagram, she describes herself as a “stand-up comedian” and writes: “I don’t have legs, but it’s not scary. I can be wheelchair-bound. My life is a real disaster (because I got run over by a damn train).

As for the perks of dating her, she writes:

I will never run away from you. I can park in the front row. I can doggystyle and I have a pair of sexy bionic legs.

To someone's joking comment on Tinder, the lefty responded:

I'm like a vacuum cleaner: I ride on wheels and suck.

Assessing her appearance, she wrote the following:

When a woman was asked about communicating with men, she replied:

When I tried to date after I lost my legs, guys always asked me: “How do you have sex?”. It made me completely abandon dating.

I myself was to blame for the fact that I did not have a romantic relationship.

But now that I have overcome my shyness and can relate to my disability with humor, they see me as just a person, and not a person confined to a wheelchair.

To see this country, we record the stories of the most different people. They come from different places and social strata, they have different wealth and different level education. This story has no end: how many people - so many Russias. A resident of a mountain village in Ossetia tells how he built a small power plant and shares his own electricity with his neighbors for free. The funeral agent hates people because they do not mourn their dead, but in a hurry look for hiding places. An old man who sings Soviet songs near the metro tells how he came to Moscow from Tambov with an accordion to raise money for the treatment of his sick wife, and won the hearts of Muscovites.

Each storyteller draws his own portrait. Portraits of Russia are not portraits of Russians performed by PublicPost journalists. This is a gallery of country portraits created by our interlocutors. They talk about themselves and about the world they live in. Many of these lives - this is the same Russia.

Veronica, legless rebel

Despite the lack of legs, Veronica manages to lead an extremely eventful life: ride a motorcycle, act in films, work as a TV presenter, listen to declarations of love and not feel disabled.

A girl recently wrote to me: "I would like to make friends with you, I have the same disease as you. I also have no legs." I ask her: "And why did you decide that this is a disease? Why are you chewing snot? Humble yourself! Take the world easier." The girl replied that I was a star.

About childhood

I am 26. At the age of 12, I was in a car accident and have been living without legs ever since. When I became disabled, my mother handed me over to an orphanage on the other side of the country. I come from the Krasnoyarsk region, and the orphanage was in Bolkhov, in the Oryol region. I tried to keep in touch with my mom, but elder sister I was then told that our mother had died. A few years ago I found out that she lied, my mother is still alive.

How I almost got adopted

So, Bolkhov is a small, deaf city, where every second thumps. I was lucky, I met Tanya from Moscow. She once came to our boarding school. She liked me because I was a rebel, and she wanted to adopt me. I was against guardianship - it's wrong when a person has two mothers. But from the age of 14, Tanya began to take me to her place in Moscow every summer. There were exhibitions, museums, cinema. Tanya showed me what good cosmetics is, how to eat right, how to hold a spoon and fork. They don't teach that in boarding schools.

About the German groom and Malakhov

Tanya had her own marriage agency. She was looking for foreign husbands for disabled girls. She also picked up the German Stefan for me when I was 18, but I refused her services. Of course, he was handsome, but I only wanted to marry for love. When I was already 20 years old, Tanya was invited to the Big Wash program. There was a program about how girls went abroad to work, and there they fell into slavery. Tanya was invited as a "light at the end of the tunnel": they say, she is engaged in such a noble cause. As a result, she was exposed in the program as a pimp, and me as a prostitute.

About the first filming

Shortly after that transmission, I returned to Bolkhov. Of course, everyone there saw this program. They pointed fingers at me, called me a whore, offered money. I kept my nose up. Then I suddenly got a call from Mosfilm - they offered me a role in a movie. There, the director's assistant was looking for a person to play the role of a legless girl in the film "Mermaid". I agreed without hesitation. It took a year to shoot. In Bolkhov, I did not tell anyone about this - they would not have believed it anyway.

About meeting my husband family life and miscarriage

During filming, I met Lesha. He was the operator. A month and a half later, he asked me to move in with him. So I settled in Moscow permanently. I was very worried before meeting his parents. But his mother was very glad to me, she immediately called me a daughter. Lesha and I got married.

After "Mermaid" I hardly starred, only a few times - in episodic roles. For example, in one film about Chechnya, a guy gets blown up by a mine, he needed a legless understudy. But for the most part, I worked behind the scenes, helping the director restore details on set. For example, if the scene with a quarrel was not filmed in a day, the next morning I reminded the director whether the heroine’s mascara was smeared, what expression she had on her face, how the curtains hung.

We lived with Lesha for three years and divorced. We did not have enough time for each other, both were busy with work. The whole household was on me: washing, ironing, cooking, filling the refrigerator, walking the dog. Lesha didn't do much. Yes, I'm stupid too. I immediately raised the question that I am independent. Like, I can do everything myself, and I don’t need pity. He began to cheat on me, and I kicked him out of the house. Then he somehow came and beat me. I had a miscarriage. I have a 1% chance of having a baby again.

About a new life in St. Petersburg

Three years ago I moved to St. Petersburg to start all over again. Here I am very much loved by citizens aged 40 and older, who watch all sorts of tearful, cute stories on TV. They recognize me all the time on buses. Everyone strives to help. I don’t understand why, if I’m doing great on my own.

Life, it seems, has improved, sometimes it just happens lonely. I wanted to adopt a child, otherwise I already have a dog all kissed, she has a lot of clothes. Only the disabled cannot adopt children, especially without an apartment. By law, I am entitled to an apartment, but only where I was born, that is, in Krasnoyarsk. Obviously, I won't go there.

Now I work in the St. Petersburg Central Park of Culture and Culture, organizing cultural events there. Prior to that, she worked as a presenter on the St. Petersburg channel "100 TV". I hope to be in films again soon. A friend of mine wrote the script especially for me. I don’t know what the film will be about, but I already agreed. I hope that I will play an action baby.

About motorcycles

I love motorcycles. Fortunately, I have a lot of biker friends here who ride me. The main thing is to hold on tight, because sometimes we do such tricks! They are close to me in spirit: in 90% of cases, their accidents occur through no fault of their own, and injuries are often incompatible with life. They are more responsive. If one of them gets into an accident, they immediately rush to help, because they know that the same thing can happen to them tomorrow. Motorcycles are drugs. Then you can’t live without this adrenaline rush, you seem to be without hands.

About fans

There are days when I feel 40 years old. But I know how to keep myself - who wants to communicate with a depressed, tortured person? And I have a lot of fans. Just last week, a boy proposed to me. In fact, I turned him down.