NATHAN HRDLICKA: There is only 25 people in
the world with my condition. That makes me feel pretty unique.
COMM: 34-year-old Nathan has an incredibly
rare medical condition, which means he was born without thighs.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: My condition that I have
is bilateral PFFD, grade D, which basically means I’m missing from my hips to below
my knees on both legs. These are where you can see the bones that they separate here
and right here. They are not attached. There is only 25 people in the world that have grade D.
As far as I've been told I’m the only one that has figured out how to walk.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: I’m not really made to
walk and so everyday I choose to do that, it comes with a pay off. I’m just literally
walking on the tips of bones. So, throughout the day eventually that wears me out and brings pain on.
COMM: Nathan currently lives with his long-term partner Chelsee.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: Chelsee and I are about a
foot or so in difference in height. CHELSEE STEWART: When we first met, I did
think the height difference was going to be sort of a problem because this was my first
time really being with someone that shorter than me. It took us a lot of time to really
learn what works and what doesn’t work, but now it’s just like normal.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: The height difference between
us, never really affected me. I’m used to having people be way taller than I am.
CHELSEE STEWART: He is very capable of doing a lot of things, more than I would have ever expected, really.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: Chelsee supports me, emotionally in a way that I’ve never had in my life
before whether it’s just to put a smile on my face or a glass of cold of water. She is there.
CHELSEE STEWART: Having this condition sometimes can really get to him, especially with the
pain that he goes through. But me being able to really, you know, support him and make
him smile when he is in that pain and really show him that he is loved, really changes
his perspective during those times.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: Growing up with this condition, I was in the hospital quite a bit. When you’re
one in 25 in the world, it’s really hard to find anybody that’s even lightly specialised
in something like that.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: Socially the biggest thing for me to deal with was just being able to
be okay with people’s curiosities. People call me a midget a lot, which is an uneducated thing.
COMM: Due to his unusual condition, Nathan struggles to work full-time. He and Chelsee
make what they can from a small jewellery business.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: To be able to cover medical
expenses when your health is very unpredictable. That’s been my biggest challenge and trying
to keep a stable job where you can be reliable every day. That’s why I guess, I lean towards
doing things like jewellery because then I can go on my schedule.
BOB SHERWIN: A lot of us are born with no
limitations, no obstacles and still find ways to limit ourselves. Nathan on the other hand
has been born without femurs. And that’s a game changer and everything that you want
to do. Yet, he doesn’t see it as a limitation. He figures out how to make whatever situation
he is in, how to figure out, how to make it work. He could become an inspiration to more
and more people if they heard his story.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: I really want to be able to help people. I want to be able to use my
experiences to help people get through the hard times that they are having with healing,
whether it’s emotional or physical.
BOB SHERWIN: He has learned that there is no thing that he can’t do. He can drive
a car, he can basically do anything that he needs to do in his own way. He doesn’t self-impose
limitations on himself. He figures out how to do it. The only thing that I’ve not seen
him be able to do is dunk a basketball.
CHELSEE STEWART: Having Nathan by my side all the time, it’s like having the greatest
teacher that you could have in life. He really inspires me and shows me that I can do anything
that I put my mind to, just by him simply being him.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: No, I don’t see myself
as different. I think that a lot of people that have disability really live in that disability.
NATHAN HRDLICKA: In my disability, something
that, that doesn’t define me.
CHELSEE STEWART: Oh my goodness. NATHAN HRDLICKA: You’re so cool.