Nicholas James Vujicic
Nick Vujicic was born to Dushka and Boris Vujicic, Serbian immigrants from Yugoslavia on December 4, 1982 in Melbourne, Australia.
Although he was an otherwise healthy baby, Nick was born without arms and legs;
he had no legs, but two small feet, one of which had two toes. Originally,
the toes of one of his feet were fused. An operation was performed to separate
the toes so that he could use them as fingers to grab. He refers to it as his
chicken drumstick. When he was born, his mother refused to see him or hold him
when the nurse held him in front of her. She and her husband went out of the
hospital and vomited from seeing their son with no limbs, but they eventually
accepted the condition. Nick has two
siblings, Michelle and Aaron.
Initially, a Victoria state law prevented Nick from attending a
mainstream school due to his physical disability in spite of a lack of mental
impairment. However, Vujicic became one of the first physically disabled
students integrated into a mainstream school once those laws changed. However,
his lack of limbs made him a target for school bullies, and he fell into a
severe depression. At age eight, he contemplated suicide and even tried to
drown himself in his bathtub at age ten; his love for his parents prevented him
from following through. He also stated in his music video "Something
More" that God had a plan for his life and he could not bring himself to
drown because of this.
Nick prayed very hard that God would give him
arms and legs, and initially told God that, if his prayer remained unanswered,
Nick would not praise him indefinitely. However, a key turning point in his
faith came when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing
with a severe disability. Vujicic realized he wasn't unique in his struggles
and began to embrace his lack of limbs. After this, Nick realized his
accomplishments could inspire others and became grateful for his life.
Nick gradually figured out how to live a full life without limbs,
adapting many of the daily skills limbed people accomplish without thinking.
Nick writes with two toes on his left foot and a special grip that slid onto
his big toe. He knows how to use a computer and can type up to 45 words per
minute using the "heel and toe" method. He has also learned to throw
tennis balls, play drum pedals, get a glass of water, comb his hair, brush his
teeth, answer the phone and shave, in addition to participating in golf,
swimming, and even sky-diving.
During secondary school, he was elected
captain of MacGregor State in Queensland and worked with the student council on
fundraising events for local charities and disability campaigns. When he was
seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group, and later founded his
non-profit organization, “Life Without Limbs”.
He lives in Los Angeles, California, United States.
In 2005, Vujicic was nominated for the Young
Australian of the Year Award.
On 12 February 2012, he married his fiancée, Kanae
Miyahara, and on 13 February 2013, their son Kiyoshi James Vujicic was born
weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces.
He is a father of two boys and twin daughters (born
in 2018).
To conclude in his words:
“Failure is not important, how you overcome it is.”
