*Wonder Woman. Given only a two-percent chance of survival after contracting bacterial meningitis at age 19, snowboarder Amy Purdy could only dream of returning to the sport. She faced kidney failure, lost her spleen and had both legs amputated as doctors raced to save her life. Nearly two years later, thanks to prosthetics and a kidney donated by her father, the Las Vegas native was back in action.
Since then, the 35-year-old Purdy has won numerous competitions, most notably the bronze medal in snowboard cross at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games, and become a Paralympic trailblazer by designing the proper prosthetics for snowboarders. Purdy has also been a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” and appeared in a Super Bowl ad this year. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel meets the philanthropic athlete and learns more about her miraculous journey from near-death to celebrated snowboarder and TV personality.
Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports. Immediately following the debut of this month’s show on Feb. 24, log on to HBO.com/realsports for a special overtime session hosted by Bryant Gumbel.
