The most decorated male skier in Paralympic history told the story of a six-year-old girl on a pink bike who asked what happened to his legs. He explained his skiing accident — a broken vertebra that severed the nerve signals to his legs. As she rode away, she said 'That's too bad.' But Waddell wished he had stopped her, because without his accident he never would have been the best in the world at anything, never would have competed as a professional athlete for 15 years, met presidents and heads of state, or had the courage to address a graduating class.