Janine Shepherd — Australian Athlete born on December 30, 1962,

Janine Lee Shepherd, AM is an Australian pilot and former cross-country skier. Shepherd's career as an athlete ended when she suffered major injuries when hit by a truck during training. Before the accident, she had been in contention to win Australia's first ever medal at the Winter Olympics. Though she was told she would never walk again or have children, and doctors had significant doubts as to whether she would survive at all, she defied all of these, and her story later became the focus of national attention, as well as a popular telemovie... (wikipedia)

We can think so much about life and take ourselves so seriously; I mean, I like to tell people, 'Don't take life too seriously' because you'll cloud the experience. That's what the meaning of life is to me - being able to enjoy the moment.
Life is about opportunities, creating them and embracing them, and for me, that was the Olympic dream. That's what defined me. That was my bliss.
I know that I'm not my body, and I also know that you're not yours.
I say to people that it's a choice that we make every day in our lives. Doesn't matter what you're going through. You don't have to be going through what I went through. But it's whether you decide to get up or stay down, whether you say 'yes' or whether you say 'no' to life. Basically, I decided to say, 'Yes.'
I think aerobatic pilots make the best pilots because you know, you're just so confident in an aeroplane. If you're gonna get into trouble, I'd rather be with someone that's a skilled aerobatic pilot.