Early life and family[edit]
Vujicic was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1982, to Dušanka and Borislav Vujičić, devout Serbian Orthodox emigrants from Yugoslavia.[5] His parents became active in a Melbourne church. His mother attended nursing school at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne while his father worked in business management. He was born with phocomelia without some fully formed limbs. According to his autobiography, his mother refused to see him or hold him while the nurse held him in front of her, but she and her husband eventually accepted their son's condition and understood it as God's plan for their son.[6]
Vujicic has two small and deformed feet, one of which he calls his "chicken drumstick" because of its shape.[7] Originally, he was born with the toes of that foot fused. An operation was performed to separate the toes so that he could use them as fingers to grab, turn a page, or perform other functions.[8] He has been able to use his foot to operate an electric wheelchair, a computer and a mobile phone. Vujicic attempted suicide but notes that he had an "amazingly normal childhood".[citation needed]
Vujicic thrived in his teenage and young adult years despite being bullied. After his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability when he was seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group.[9]
He graduated from Griffith University at the age of 21 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with a double major in accountancy and financial planning.[citation needed]
Career[edit]
Vujicic started his speaking engagements at 19.[citation needed] In 2005, he founded an international non-profit organisation and ministry, Life Without Limbs.[citation needed]
In 2007, Vujicic founded Attitude is Altitude, a secular motivational speaking company.[10] He starred in the short film The Butterfly Circus.[11] At the 2010 Method Fest Independent Film Festival, he was awarded Best Actor in a Short Film for his starring performance as Will.[12]
Beliefs[edit]
On his webpages, in a self-formulated "Statement of Faith", Vujicic states his adherence to born-again Christianity,[13] to classically Calvinist notions on sin and redemption and to Biblical inerrancy without specifying what particular understanding of Biblical inerrancy he intends to mean. His tenets of faith also include the imminent Second Coming of Christ. He does not publicly identify with or adhere to any denomination or congregation.[citation needed]
Personal life[edit]
On 12 February 2012, Vujicic married Kanae Miyahara. The couple has two sons and live in Southern California
Books and publications[edit]
His first book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life, was published by Random House in 2010 and has been translated into more than 30 languages.[15] He markets a motivational DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, a short documentary filmed in 2005. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane. He markets a DVD for young people titled No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!.
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