Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy is joining the upcoming cast of opens in a new windowDancing with the Stars and she’ll be the first double-amputee and athlete with a disability to appear on the hit ABC series.
The chance to dance on national television was too much for Purdy to pass up. “I did question going on the show and having two prosthetic legs, but then I just thought this is an opportunity to try it out and who knows how far I can go or if we can come up with some cool, innovative ways to do what other dancers can do,” said Purdy in an interview that appeared on the opens in a new windowTeam USA website.
Purdy, a Las Vegas native, lost both her legs at age 19 after contracting bacterial meningitis. The three-time World Cup winner heads into the Sochi Paralympic Games as the top adaptive snowboarder in the country. She also is the co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports, a non-profit organization which helps disabled youth and adults get involved in action sports.
Purdy and her partner Derek Hough will compete against Olympic gold-medalist ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White, actors Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar, comedian Drew Carey, and six other celebrities. She makes her debut March 17, just three days after returning from Sochi, Russia.
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