Jul 28, 2008 11:21 am US/Eastern
Triumph Over Adversity: Double Amputee Defies Odds
Scott Rigsby Completes 'Ironman Triathlon' In Under 17 Hours
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Scott Rigsby, a double amputee from a horrific accident, has taken on all challenges head on, and succeeded.
CBS
A triathlon - a combination of swimming, bike riding, and distance running - is said to be one of the most difficult physical challenges an athlete can take on. Now imagine trying to complete that kind of race without legs!
We're not talking just any triathlon; we're referring to the Ironman! That's a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full marathon run.
Scott Rigsby did it as a double amputee.
He was inspired by injured troops returning from Iraq and is now hoping to return the favor.
He looks like a football player, which he was many years ago. These days, Rigsby is into endurance events. However, Rigsby is unlike any runner you have ever seen. He has had both of his legs amputated below the knee as a result of an accident that happened 22 years ago.
"An eighteen-wheeler passes us from behind and clipped us on a bridge. I got knocked off and I got dragged under our trailer 324 feet on the pavement," Rigsby said, explaining his horrific accident.
That is when he lost his right leg, but his left leg had been injured enough that after 12 years and 25 operations, he had it amputated. Then, about 2.5 years ago, something struck a nerve in Rigsby.
"I just saw a lot of our military men and women putting themselves in harms way for my freedom," Rigsby explains, "and I wanted to be able to do something to give back to them, to inspire them."
Rigsby decided to do an Ironman Triathlon. His friends reminded him that he did not know how to swim, did not own a bike, and had never run more than a mile on his prosthetic legs.
But Rigsby had taken his motto to heart; "Just do what you can, do the best you can, and never quit and then you'll always reach your finish line."
That philosophy served him well; last fall Rigsby swam almost 2.5 miles in the ocean, without any prosthetic legs, then a 112 mile bike ride through the lava fields of Hawaii, then ran a 26.2 mile marathon, mostly in the dark. He finished the Ironman in just under 17 hours.
Rigsby has a foundation and is writing a book to help others in similar situations.
"What matters is there's some guy out there that didn't believe in himself or some lady that didn't believe in herself and they said, 'I'm in this race because of you,'" Rigsby says.
The race is a metaphor, which means it does not have to be an actual race. It is about encouraging people, disabled or able-bodied, to cross their own personal "finish line."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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