Paralympian Mom Wins Gold, Brings Daughters to Italy

When Brenna Huckaby lost her right leg to bone cancer at 14, a hospital rehab trip introduced her to snowboarding on the Utah mountains. The former gymnast from Louisiana found her new balance beam, and it changed everything.

Fast forward 15 years, and Brenna is a four-time Paralympic medalist with three golds and one bronze. She's also collected five World Championship medals, all while "competing up" against athletes with fewer disabilities, more range of motion, and better balance.

Her path hasn't been easy. In 2022, Paralympic officials tried to ban athletes at her disability level from competing due to low participation numbers. Brenna took them to court, won her spot at the Beijing Games, and came home with two more medals.

Snowboarding with a prosthetic leg makes the board much harder to control. "We're still learning what the limits are," she says. "I don't think any of us have reached the full capacity of what our prosthetic limbs can do."

This year at the Paralympics in Italy, Brenna will bring her daughters Lilah, 9, and Sloan, 5, to watch her compete. "To actually have them physically be there and feel a part of it and feel a part of my journey, it feels exciting," she says.

She knows moms face pressure to stay home, but Brenna believes showing her daughters she can chase her own dreams teaches them to pursue theirs. "There's no one-size-fits-all in life," she says. "It's so stupid that we've told everyone that there is."

Why This Inspires: Brenna's understanding of strength has completely transformed since her amputation. When she started snowboarding, strength meant proving she was better than her disability, pushing past warning signals, and never asking for help. Now at 29, she defines strength differently: "Owning who you are, asking for help, and just being yourself." She made history in 2018 as the first Paralympian featured in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, calling it "a big win for my younger self, knowing that those thoughts I had about being unworthy and unlovable were never true."

Her goal at this year's Paralympics goes beyond medals. She wants to be present and enjoy a moment she never imagined possible. "How lucky am I to have been able to live through this new chapter of my life, even if it was hard?" she asks.

How lucky are we to watch her fly.