Conference Keynote Speakers

Amy Purdy

Amy Purdy will keynote the Amputee Coalition 2023 National Conference in Orlando, FL.

At 19, after experiencing progressively worsening flu-like symptoms after a long day at work, Amy was rushed to the hospital in a state of septic shock. En route, she experienced respiratory and multiple organ failure, which caused her to lose circulation to her extremities.

Admitted to the hospital, she was given less than a 2% chance of survival, put on life support, and placed into a medically induced coma. After multiple blood transfusions and the removal of her ruptured spleen, doctors diagnosed Amy with meningococcal meningitis, a rare and often deadly bacterial blood infection.

Due to septic shock, doctors had to amputate her legs below the knee. Having lost kidney function, she later received a donated kidney, from her father, a week before her 21st birthday.

After going through this life-altering experience, Amy challenged herself to move on with her life and attain goals that even those who have both legs would struggle to achieve.

Just three months after her kidney transplant, she entered the USASA National Snowboarding Championship where she won medals in three different events. Today, she is one of the pioneers of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding Team and a three-time Paralympic medalist.

Amy’s creativity, positive outlook, and her never-give-up attitude have opened doors to countless other opportunities including being featured in a Madonna music video, being the lead actress in an award-winning independent film, competing with her husband on the iconic TV show “The Amazing Race”, and very nearly winning season 18 of “Dancing with the Stars” with her partner Derek Hough.

Over the years, Amy has evolved into a powerful, motivational keynote speaker who has literally been seen by millions of people and invited to speak to audiences around the world. A master storyteller, when it comes to inspiration, Amy is among the very best.

She has toured the country sharing her remarkable story alongside Oprah Winfrey, as part of Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour. She was featured in a Toyota Super Bowl commercial which has since been named one of the Top 20 Super Bowl Commercials of All Time.

Her autobiography, On My Own Two Feet, quickly became a New York Times Best Seller, It is now published around the world in 10 languages.

Amy and her husband founded Adaptive Action Sports, which trains athletes with disabilities in action sports. Their organization is top in the U.S. for developing Paralympic snowboarders.

Learn more about Amy at amypurdy.com.

Mike Schultz

Paralympic Snowboarding – GOLD & SILVER
X GAMES Powersports– 10x GOLD medalist
BIODAPT CEO – Engineer

Known in the racing community as “Monster” Mike, from St. Cloud, MN has transformed the world of adaptive action sports in more ways than one. In 2008, Mike suffered a terrible knee injury during a professional snowmobile competition resulting in the amputation of his left leg above the knee. Shortly after his accident, Mike engineered a high performance prosthetic knee to get him back in action. Within seven months, Mike was again competing on the national stage at the ESPN X Games, receiving a silver medal in Adaptive Motocross. In 2010, Mike founded BioDapt, Inc. after realizing the need for advancements in high impact adaptive sports prosthetics. Ten years and ten X Games gold medals later, Mike added one of his biggest accomplishments to his list of honors, bringing home gold and silver in snowboarding from the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang. Another equally great honor, Mike was voted as the U.S. flag bearer for the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies. Mike provided prosthetic equipment to 15 athletes from six different countries during the 2018 Games. There was a total of 11 medals won by athletes wearing his BioDapt prosthetic equipment!

Learn More: monstermikeschultz.com/