SIX YEARS ago, when the reality of an impending amputation below his right knee sunk in, Jarryd Wallace vowed one thing: “The day I decided I was going to have an amputation was the day I said, ‘I’m going to be the fastest Paralympic athlete in the world.’”
In high school, Wallace, a talented and enthusiastic runner, was diagnosed with compartment syndrome; a potentially serious condition caused by internal bleeding and swelling of enclosed muscle tissue.
Faced with losing a leg to surgery at just 19, or likely losing it further down the line, Wallace chose the former and six years later he’s almost where he said he’d be.