01:06Russia: Paralympian brings smiles to orphanage in Irkutsk
Russia: Paralympian brings smiles to orphanage in Irkutsk
Russian-born Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long travelled to Irkutsk on Friday, where she visited the orphanage she lived in before her adoption to an American family.
Long was born with the name Tatiana Kirillova in the Siberian town of Bratsk in 1992, but her biological parents gave her to the orphanage to put up for adoption. At the age of 13 months,Tatiana was adopted by the Long family and grew up in the United States under the name Jessica.
Sufferng from fibular hemimelia, her lower legs were amputated when she was 18 months old, and she had to learn to walk with prosthetics. Despite this, Jessica went on to become a gold-medal winning Paralympic swimmer.
During her visit, she said: "To me a negative attitude is a disability, and even though I'm missing my legs, I don't see it as a handicap, I see it as an advantage to inspire people."
Jessica visted the orphanage and met with her old teachers such as Olga Milyutkina, who learnt of her Olympic success from a newspaper article in 2004. On Saturday, Jessica will make a lenghty trip to meet her biological parents in a remote village in the region of Irkutsk.
01:06Russia: Paralympian brings smiles to orphanage in Irkutsk
Russian-born Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long travelled to Irkutsk on Friday, where she visited the orphanage she lived in before her adoption to an American family.
Long was born with the name Tatiana Kirillova in the Siberian town of Bratsk in 1992, but her biological parents gave her to the orphanage to put up for adoption. At the age of 13 months,Tatiana was adopted by the Long family and grew up in the United States under the name Jessica.
Sufferng from fibular hemimelia, her lower legs were amputated when she was 18 months old, and she had to learn to walk with prosthetics. Despite this, Jessica went on to become a gold-medal winning Paralympic swimmer.
During her visit, she said: "To me a negative attitude is a disability, and even though I'm missing my legs, I don't see it as a handicap, I see it as an advantage to inspire people."
Jessica visted the orphanage and met with her old teachers such as Olga Milyutkina, who learnt of her Olympic success from a newspaper article in 2004. On Saturday, Jessica will make a lenghty trip to meet her biological parents in a remote village in the region of Irkutsk.