The Hearts of Camp No Limits

“I’m a pro,” says Memphis Lafferty, a 16 year old quadruple amputee who describes his jiu jitsu skills. When Memphis was only six months old, he contracted meningitis and lost all four of his limbs. With a very long recovery process and many bumpy roads ahead, Memphis thrived and is now living a super active and happy life! Jujitsu is one of his favorite activities, as he would compete with abled bodies, and shared that his sensei was super supportive throughout this process. He never held back in the fights, and neither did his competitors! Memphis got up to a green belt on his journey— so cool!

Another favorite activity of Memphis’s is skateboarding and making fingerboards. Those are mini, approximately 2 inch skateboards that get put together piece by piece. Chris, Memphis’ dad posted a video of Memphis using these fingerboards that he made, which caught the attention of many people, including the famous Tony Hawk! Since Memphis was also into skateboarding, Tony Hawk gave him a signed board which reads, “to Memphis: thank you for inspiring!” Such a great keepsake! Another fun fact is that an article was written about Memphis and the cast from The Doctor Show wanted him to be featured, go on live TV, and tell his story. They said that they would cover the costs of getting him all new prosthetics and teeth. This would be the beginning of a huge opportunity for Memphis, and he decided to take it! Since then, he has been working with Step Ahead in New York to start walking with arms, and he has made great progress!

Memphis learned about Camp No Limits through some friends that he met at Wounded Warriors. He and his dad met many amputees there, who taught them about Camp, and they attended their first ever camp in Florida, when he was about 10! Kevin Carroll, a prosthetist with Hanger Clinic and Camp friend/volunteer reached out to them and said he wanted to make Memphis prosthetic hands by Christmas, and in return, Memphis and Chris would have to go to Camp! This was a great deal, and they took it! At Camp, Memphis met Cameron and Pedro, camp mentors, who gave Memphis huge support and taught his family so much about prosthetics. Snow Camp is their favorite camp though, because Memphis loved to go skiing! Camp was his first time ever skiing and he loves it! Now, he really wants to become a camp mentor and start teaching the younger campers about his legs and what is possible.

Clearly through all of this, Memphis has overcome all sorts of obstacles. He shared with us that his friends have become so used to his amputations that they treat him like a normal person. He doesn’t worry about what people think of him, and he’s comfortable talking about his disability. In the future, he’ll be talking to a group of high schoolers about his story and life as a quad amputee. Keep up the great work Memphis and keep inspiring people- you are a miracle!

Post written by Bella Tucker