World-class athlete defies the odds
By Kat Carney
CNN Headline News
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Paul Martin
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(CNN) -- Paul Martin, a champion skier, marathon runner, competitive swimmer and world-class cyclist, only has one leg.
On a recent visit to Atlanta, he told me how he turned what he calls an irresponsible accident into a legacy of triumph. "The day of my accident started out like any typical day. There were about half a dozen of us having dinner and drinks and everybody wanted to go home. A couple beers later, I fell asleep driving home."
Martin, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, woke up just in time to avoid hitting a parked fire truck; from there his memory is vague.
When asked what he remembers from the accident, Martin says, "I remember bouncing down the highway, and I remember laying in the back of the ambulance with them cutting off my pants and I remember saying 'Oh my God, they're cutting off my pants, this is not good.' "
Martin had been thrown from his car, and his left leg was severely injured. He says that doctors operated several times in an effort repair the damage. Nine days later they told him they didn't think his leg could be saved.
Martin describes his reaction to the news. "When I first was told I was going to lose my leg, I probably laid in bed thinking, 'I'm going to be a freak tomorrow.' It couldn't have been farther from the truth."
Four weeks after having his left leg amputated below the knee, Martin was released from the hospital. Shortly afterward, he was fitted for his first prosthetic leg. "I was walking again. And that was wonderful. I was just happy to get a leg. But over the next couple months I realized my leg doesn't stay on when I run across the street and that's not good."
Martin, center, competing in a cycling event.
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It was tough for a man whose destiny was to run.
In 1994, at the suggestion of a friend, Martin entered the national amputee track and field championships -- and won. "It took me a little over 6 minutes, I was so excited [that] I just won a race with a prosthetic leg. Something I've never done with two legs. "
Martin later crossed the finish line of the '95 New York Marathon, and went on to win championships in cycling. In 1998, he competed (and completed) his first ironman competition.
He's also a competitive skier.
When I asked Martin, what do you thinks in you that's making you look at these events going, that's next? He replied simply, "I'm well aware that my time here is limited I'm a mortal person like anybody else and I would hate to think that I missed my chance."
