"From Near Death to the Paralympics: A Brooklyn Native's Inspiring Story" - Camille Farrar

            Cathy Sarubbi, a resident of the Brooklyn community Gerritsen Beach, went to the hospital to give birth to her first child about 24 years ago. The baby, Caitlin Sarubbi was born without eyelids, underdeveloped ears, and a multitude of other facial deformities. Cathy was told her baby might die because of the severe complications, and if she lived, she could be blind or have other disabilites. Caitlin was declared legally blind, however, at the age of 11, she got the opportunity to go skiing with her family and fell in love with the sport. She missed weeks of school at a time to train and eventually got to the 2010 Winter Paralympics. She decided to try to make it to the Paralympics in 2014, but she got a concussion while she was training and missed 5 weeks of training, so she didn’t get to go. She is currently studying social and cognitive neuroscience at Harvard.

            I thought this story was incredibly moving. It shows how it really is possible to achieve your goals if you try hard enough. There may be many, many obstacles, but it is generally possible to overcome them with hard work. I think it’s absolutely incredible that Caitlin became such an accomplished skier. Her passion for the sport is inspirational. I honestly can’t imagine being at that level of accomplishment in a sport and attending Harvard University at the same time. I wish Caitlin could have gone to Sochi for this year’s Paralympics, but hopefully she’ll be able to make it to the next Winter Paralympics.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/15/living/parents-raising-paralympian-children-with-disabilities/index.html?hpt=us_t3