SIX-YEAR MISSION
IN 2010, BEFORE HIS AMPUTATION, JARRYD WALLACE SAID HE’D BECOME THE FASTEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE ON THE PLANET, WRITES BEN COLDWELL
JARRYD WALLACE
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.