Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: SWIM (07/21/22)
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TITLE: Unstoppable | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dale Buchanan
07/28/22 -
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This bi-lateral amputee won gold in the 200m individual medley SM8 swim competition at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic games. When interviewed, Jessica said, “I’m over the moon. I’m just so happy.” “This is what I came here to do.” She went on to earn six medals in Tokyo. Her Paralympic career, spanning 17 years, includes a collection of 16 gold medals, eight silver, and five bronze as she competed in a wide variety of swimming competitions.
Jessica came into the world in Siberia, Russia, the daughter of a 16-year-old unwed mother. From birth, she suffered from a rare disease called fibular hemimelia, characterized by missing or undeveloped bones in the feet and lower legs. The doctors advised the mother to give her daughter up for adoption because she could not care for her. At 13 months, a Baltimore, Maryland couple, Steve and Beth Long, adopted her. Amputation followed five months later, and Jessica lost both of her legs below the knee. Over the years, Long endured 25 surgeries.
Upon learning of Jessica’s condition before adoption, her mother said, “It won’t be easy, but it will be amazing.” Her adoptive parents were determined to help her succeed. As she grew, they encouraged her to use her prosthetic legs for gymnastics, ice skating, rock climbing, and trampoline. Soon swimming became her favorite activity. She especially enjoyed swimming at her grandparents’ home and pretending to be a mermaid.
It wasn’t long before she started in swimming competitions. Soon she was selected as Maryland’s Female Swimmer of the Year with a Disability. At age 12, Jessica qualified to represent the US at the Paralympic Games at Athens 2004 and won three gold medals. This achievement was followed by four gold, one silver, and one bronze in 2008 Beijing; five gold, two silver, and one bronze in 2012 London; in the 2016 Brazil Paralympics, she won one gold, three silvers, and one bronze.
As Long developed her swimming abilities, she felt her entire worth was in swimming. Without swimming, she lost her identity as an individual. Her birth parents had abandoned her. Her birthday was on February 29 – so there was only one actual birthday every four years. The thought of not swimming made her feel empty inside, as though she were non-existent.
Because her adoptive parents were Christians and active participants in church, she attended church regularly. At a youth Bible study, God convicted her that she could no longer live by her own strength. She needed God. She walked to the front and found a woman to help her. She told the woman, “I want to give God my whole heart for once.” God gave her peace that night, and she felt that she was part of God’s family. Since that time, her identity has been in Christ.
Some short time later, Jessica met and visited her birth parents and family in Russia. Her mother told her that she could never forgive herself for giving Jessica up for adoption. Because Jessica had received Christ as Savior and had experienced forgiveness, God made it possible to forgive her mother. She realized God had prepared a plan for her and used her life experiences to help implement that plan.
God’s plan now for Jessica includes more than swimming. Because of being an amputee and her struggles with identity and abandonment, she can identify with and help many suffering, struggling kids and adults. She works with the Make-A-Wish foundation and has a ministry speaking to kids in schools.
Long’s new mission is to demystify disability. She quotes a saying, “the only disability in life is a negative attitude.” She serves as a role model. Jessica relates how special it was to have a little girl who just lost her leg from cancer come up to her and tell her, “You’re my hero.”
For all of us, God uses our trials to deepen our faith and prepare us to help and bless others. Jessica Long’s inspiring story can encourage us not to quit and to use our abilities to comfort and motivate others.
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