Can you imagine losing a leg at age 8 and not letting that define you?

Jeff Glasbrenner is a Paralympian who became the first American amputee to successfully climb Mount Everest in 2016. Now, he’s working toward his next goal – climbing the Seven Summits and completing the Explorers Grand Slam.

Jeff Glasbrenner’s motivational public speaking inspires people all over the world. His opportunity in life came at eight years old, on the day he was involved in a traumatic farming accident that left him a below-the-knee amputee. Most would call this a tragedy, but he considers this his greatest opportunity, which he chose to embrace by continually excelling at wheelchair basketball, triathlons, and by being a husband and father to two children.

He has traveled to dozens of different countries, has met amazing people, and has risen to a world-class level in sports. In wheelchair basketball, he holds a National Championship scoring record of sixty-three points and twenty-seven rebounds in one game, and played in Europe professionally for three years. The author is a three-time Paralympian and a two-time World Champion (Gold Medal). He has completed 25 Ironman distance triathlons, and has won numerous races in his division.

What You’ll Learn

14:49 Childhood

Jeff Glasbrenner shared that when he was a kid he tried to play sports but his prosthetic leg flew off, and he decided he wasn’t going to participate in any sports. But then in college he met with a person who saw him jump without his leg to the bathroom and invited him to play basketball in a wheelchair, there he realized that he is a great athlete and could be part of the U.S. national team.

22:07 Appreciating Moments

Jeff Glasbrenner on not appreciating certain moments because he was focused on the next goal and how his perspective changed when he became a father.

23:20 Communication Through Passion

Jeff Glasbrenner talks about when he went to live in Spain to play basketball and didn’t speak Spanish and his teammates didn’t speak English, but through the desire to be a team they had to figure out how to communicate and thanks to this they became stronger and won several European championships and the Spanish cup.

28:54 Climbing

Jeff Glasbrenner tells how he became interested in climbing mountains, his daughter has a very rare disease that causes her to have seizures all the time, they found that by showing her new activities, the seizures stop. So one day they climbed a mountain and Jeff Glasbrenner discovered a new passion.

39:19 Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

Jeff Glasbrenner talks about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who bring something positive to your life. You have to stop making excuses as to why you can’t achieve certain things. You must look in the mirror and see what you need to be happy and ask yourself if you are willing to make changes to achieve it. But the key is to have a good support system.

For Jeff Glasbrenner the most important thing throughout his life has been to have the right people, but above all his wife, who has supported him in each and every one of his challenges. He says that he met her at a fundraising event and that he tried to be funny but she put him in his place and from there everything made sense to him. Jeff Glasbrenner says that self-love also comes from knowing how to choose a partner.

Jeff Glasbrenner’s Links

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamglas 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamglas/ 
• Website: https://www.teamglas.com/

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