Book excerpt: Former Paralympian did the Unthinkable A man cannot choose to be born; he can however, choose to live. After he was abusively raised by the belt, abandoned by his mom, and then struck with a strain of meningitis that required all four limbs to be amputated, nine year old Bob Lujano faced an incredible decision. In a coma clinging to life, Lujano, wrapped like a mummy, sat up. A visitor stood at the end of his bed and gave him the choice to live or go to heaven. To give up and choose heaven would be the easy way out and no-one would blame him. To choose life meant living physically as a quad amputee and emotionally with the scars of rejection, abandonment, and abuse. Others would quite. He kept going. Staring ahead like a zombie, Lujano gave an unthinkable answer: "I don't care what state my body is in. I want to live. I have things to do." His decision was granted. From that day on, he fought and pushed his way into "normal" schools and activities to live a substantive life of independence like everyone else. The National Enquirer called him a "gutsy kid...[who] beats the odds." Larry King said Lujano and his Murderball teammates and co-stars were "inspirational" because they wouldn't trade their disability. Today, Bob does not consider himself to be disabled because he chooses life. Physically, he is able to live, work, drive, date, and cook just like the rest of us; independent without caretakers. Emotionally, he concentrates on gratitude and all the good that life has to offer. This broken family is restored; a legacy of abuse is redeemed to a legacy of championing and protection. In an age where image is everything and people are discounted for the way they look, Lujano crashes stereotypes and demands the reader to live their life with everything they've got: perseverance, love, forgiveness, joy, and peace. This is no woe-is-me story; Lujano chooses gratitude in the fact that he gets to live and he encourages others to do the same. No Arms, No Legs, No Problem is the inspirational memoir of a quad amputee living life on his own terms.