From Chernobyl orphan to Paralympic legend: Oksana Masters' inspiring journey

Oksana Masters is celebrated today as America’s most decorated Paralympian, but medals tell only a small part of her story. Long before she stood on Paralympic podiums, she was a little girl fighting to survive in Ukrainian orphanages after being born with severe birth differences linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Every day was a battle for food, warmth, and hope. Instead of letting those painful years define her future, she built a life that few could have imagined. Her journey shows that where you begin does not have to decide where you finish.How Oksana Masters survived a childhood few could imagineOksana Masters was born on June 19, 1989, in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, an area affected by radioactive fallout after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. She was born with serious congenital limb differences, including missing weight-bearing bones in her legs and hand deformities.