Arly Fogarty, 27-years-old, is a Canadian Paralympic ski team athlete. The Paralympics are amazing in themselves. These athletes each live and compete with a handicap. Yet have each over come to participate in the sport where their heart is committed. So many of us have so many excuses, these athletes have an excuse and have dismissed it. Arly has Holt-Oram syndrome. Arly described the syndrome:
“It’s a congenital birth defect that basically affects your heart and your upper limbs, one of them to a greater degree. I have a very small heart condition with pretty severe upper limbs disability. I ski without poles, and my biggest challenge is more from a balance standpoint. I don’t have the ability to counterbalance with the help of ski poles.”
Arly, unable to use her arms, has been skiing since she was 5-years-old and has been a part of the national Para-Alpine team since 2003. In the same interview where Arly described her syndrome, she was asked why she wanted to compete on the Paralympic team:
“Once you start racing, you obviously have that fire and desire to push your body’s limits to see how far you can go. It just seemed like a natural progression for me, going from recreational skiing to racing. It was: ‘Okay, I want to be on the provincial team. What do I have to do to do that?’ Then it was wanting to go to nationals. I just enjoyed giving my best and seeing how far it could take me.”
