List Of Seven Famous Celebrities Who Have Succeeded Despite Their Disability

In life, success is something to be celebrated as it is only achieved by those that have been able to work hard and devote their lives to pursuing their dreams. Success is even more celebrated when it comes from special people who have been tagged by society as being disabled but have been able to overcome the challenges that comes with their perceived disabilities to achieve enviable feats. Below is a quick run down of seven world famous people who despite their disabilities have been able to accomplish greatness.

Marla Runyan (Blind):

Marla Runyan is one of the women that represented the United States in the 1500 meter tack event at the 2000 Olympics. She made it to the finals and finished in eighth position with 3.20 seconds behind the gold medal winner. She holds various American records such as Hepthalon (1996), All Female Marathon (2002), 500m (2001), 20,000 Road (2003). She is a three time national champion in the women’s 5000 meters and she won four gold medals in the 1992 summer Paralympics. In 2002, she became the first legally blind athlete to compete in an Olympics. The 31 year old suffers from Stargardt disease which started at the age of nine and the condition leaves her with a limited ability to see what is in front of her.

Michael Bolton (Hearing Impairment):

Michael Bolton is an American singer-songwriter who is deaf in one ear but has been able to turn his disability into ability and achieve greatness in the music world. His biggest success came in the mid-thirties as a solo vocalist and he got his first contract for his record at the age of 15. He is famous for pop rock ballads and his achievements include selling more than 75 million records, two number one singles on the Billboard charts as well as winning multiple American Music Awards and Grammy Awards. Some of his famous solo works are Everybody’s Crazy, Soul Provider, My Secret Passion etc.

Sudha Chandran (Amputee):

Sudha Chandran is an accomplished Indian dancer who has received numerous awards and performed all over the world. She is one of the most well known dancers and TV actresses in India despite losing one of her legs after a car accident in 1981. She uses an artificial leg and despite this, she is still able to dance professionally. A Bollywood film, Mayuri, was made about her life.

Cobhams Asuquo (Blind):

Cobhams Asuquo is a Nigerian musician, producer and songwriter who branched into music from his professional training as a lawyer. He is currently signed onto Sony ATV (Sony Publishing) London as a songwriter. Although blind, the talented music producer has been able to win awards in his career and is known for producing some of Nigeria’s finest artistes like internationally acclaimed Asa. Cobhams released his much awaited first official single title Ordinary People on the 1st of January 2014. The Song immediately became the NO.1 on most radio charts Nigeria. Cobhams has won multiple local and international awards for his creative and entrepreneurial contributions to the Nigerian music industry.  He was recently featured on CNN’s African Voices for his contribution and impact on the African music industry. One of the artiste, Bez, singed to his C.A.M.P record label had his debut album highlighted on The Boston Globe’s top ten list of best ‘world music’ albums of 2011.

Stephen Hawking (Motor Neuron Disease or a variant of ALS (Amyotrophic Sclerosis):

Stephen William Hawking is perhaps the world’s most renowned physicist whose scientific career spans over 40 years. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of sciences and in 2009 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. It is incredible to note that with all his achievements, he is severely disabled by motor neuron diseases.  The diagnosis came when he was 21 and doctors said he would not survive more than two years. He gradually lost use of his arms, legs and voice and can now only speak with the assistance of a computer and has been a fulltime powerchair-user since the 1980s. His best-selling work, A Brief History of Time, stayed on the Sunday Times bestsellers list for an astounding 237 weeks.

Stevie Wonder (Blind):

Stevie Wonder is a musician, singer and songwriter who was blind but today he is one of the most loved singers in the world. His most famous singles include “Supersitition”, “Sir Duke” and “I Just called to say I Love You.”  This legend was born six weeks early; the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not reached the front and aborted their growth hence his blindness. This supposed disability wasn’t going to stop him from pursuing his dream as at the age of 11, he signed his first record label with Motown’s Tamla label and there has been no stopping him ever since.

Nick Vijucic (No Limbs):

Nicholas James Nick is an Australian Christian evangelist and motivational speaker. Born December 4, 1982, he has a rare disorder of tetra-amelia syndrome which is characterized by the absence of all four limbs. At the young age of seventeen, he started a non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs. He has addressed over three million people in over 44 countries on five continents,he speaks to corporate audiences, congregations and schools. In 2005, he was nominated for the Young Auistralian of the Year Award. In March 2008, he was interviewed by Bob Cummings for the 20/20 American television show. And in 2008, he starred in the short film The Butterfly Circus which went ahead to win the Doorpost Film Project top prize of 2009. In 2010, the film also won two awards at the 2010 Method Fest Independent Film festival. At the same festival he won the Best actor in a short film for his character Will.  The movie also won the best short film award at The Feel Good Film Festival in Hollywood in 2010.