If you would ask me at 15 years old if I would have traded prosthetics for flesh and bone legs, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second. I aspired to that kind of normalcy back then. But if you ask me today, I'm not so sure.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
But I was losing so much bone density that I would have been in grave danger. And I mean grave danger. If I had let it go just a few more years I could have broken my hip or spine just picking up my granddaughter.
The legs that I have made are far more perfect than the ones nature would have given me - my mother's side of the family have awful legs.
The flesh and bone leg is just beautiful. It's elegant. You know, when it's working, it's incredible. But if it's not working, well, you know, your life is certainly far from over.
At 14, I'd have given my left arm to be a boy: I thought I was horrible and that no-one would ever find me attractive.
I wouldn't trade those 10 years for anything. The Navy taught me a lot of things. It molded me as a man, and I made a lot of wonderful friends.
If they could cut off my head and put it onto another body that was, like, 20 years old, I would do that.
If I hadn't had a childhood career, I probably would've signed a contract with the first person I came across.
I would never use prosthetics. I don't like sticking things on. I don't really like wearing wigs, either.
Well, I would have much preferred to have had a normal childhood. I would have loved it if my greatest dilemma, at 14, was whether to go to Benetton for my pullovers. I would have preferred not to have cried all the tears I have cried.
If my leg falls off, I'll get a prosthetic. There'd be no deep sadness about. I'd just get on with it! It's called life, and I love life. You have to be positive, and you have to crack on no matter what.