The first member of Team USA to win Gold at the Invictus Games is a 9/11 survivor. US Marine Lance Corporal Sarah Rudder has won four gold medals and three silver medals at the Invictus Games, currently taking place in Orlando, all in Track and Field.
Sarah Rudder, 9/11 Survivor, first to win Gold for the US at Invictus
Earning four gold and three silver medals (and counting), Rudder’s prosthetic helps her attain the freedom she’s missed.
Alex Menendez/Getty Images
When she runs, she wears a prosthetic painted with the faces of heroes — Wonder Woman, Super Girl — attached to her left leg.
Rudder lost her leg on 9/11, ironically during a promotion ceremony in front of the Pentagon, when a cement block fell on her body. Her injury did not stop her from assisting rescue teams from pulling survivors out of the wreckage. The injury did, however, remain with her for 13 years, despite five surgeries to attempt to repair her fractured leg — to no avail.
The decision to amputate came in 2014.
Rudder told ABC News that if she had known how much freedom her amputation would give her, she would’ve done it sooner.
“I feel like I’m back in high school again,” Rudder told ABC News. “I’m able to hit the track and keep up with athletes that are much younger than me, and it’s an amazing feeling.”
She is not resting on her laurels, however. Today, she competes in swimming, the women’s 100m crawl -- with Wonder Woman watching her from the side of the pool.
See More:
