Shelly Shepherd had six children of her own at the time she and her husband welcomed a young Vietnamese child missing both legs below the knee into their home in Missouri. What motivates a mother to take in a disabled child and raise her as her own? How special has it been for now 8 year old Haven to become part of an amazing family? The story of Haven Shepherd is unbelievable.

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Top surfer Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack back in 2003. Since then, she has gotten back into the ocean and now travels the world as a professional surfer. Soul Surfer, the movie on her life, will premiere as a fundraiser for The Challenged Athletes Foundation on Saturday March 26 at the La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas, and Bethany will be in attendance. We chatted with Bethany about coming back from tragedy and making the most out of every day. The tickets cost $10 with 100% of the proceeds going to CAF. To buy yours, go to http://soulsurfer.kintera.org or call 858-210-3510.

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The fact that Anthony Smith is alive is a miracle. The fact that he swims, rides a bike and finished a 5K on Saturday is not to be believed. While in Iraq in 2004 he took a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade that went through his body and then exploded. He flat lined three times, was declared dead on the battlefield, ended up in a coma for 62 days and his serious injuries are way too numerous to list. This interview goes immediately up on our list of instant classics.

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For the first seven years of her life she never was allowed outside the walls of the Chinese orphanage she had been abandoned at. Her leg was burned off  above the knee before she turned one. When she was adopted and came to the United States, she was seven years old and weighed all of 22 pounds. Scout Bassett is now a runner, triathlete and role model. Hers is the ultimate story of perseverance.

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Jim MacLaren has had an amazing life. A 300 pound football player at Yale, in 1985 he was hit by a New York City bus while on his motorcycle and became a lower leg amputee. Eight years later, MacLaren was hit again, this time by a van while on his bike during a race, and became a quadriplegic. Believe it or not, that is just the beginning of the Jim MacLaren story.
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Jim MacLaren has had an amazing life. A 300 pound football player at Yale, in 1985 he was hit by a New York City bus while on his motorcycle and became a lower leg amputee. Eight years later, MacLaren was hit again, this time by a van while on his bike during a race, and became a quadriplegic. Believe it or not, that is just the beginning of the Jim MacLaren story.
(continue reading…)

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