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On 'DWTS,' amputee Purdy is 'a dancer like anyone else'

Derek Hough and Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy begin working their way toward Season 18 of 'Dancing With the Stars.' / Adam Larkey, ABC

Her toes won't be able to point.


'That was one of those things,' Amy Purdy says. 'I know these dancers are always pointing their toes, and I'm not going to be able to do that. Is that a huge hindrance?'


It may be a hindrance, but if anyone can figure out a way around it, it'll be Purdy and her Dancing With the Stars pro partner, Derek Hough.


The 34-year-old model and massage therapist from Las Vegas is blazing a new trail for ABC's dance competition, which kicks off its 18th season Monday (8 p.m. ET/PT). After winning a bronze medal Friday morning at the Paralympics in Sochi, she jumped on a plane bound for Hollywood.


She'll be hitting the ballroom floor with a cast that includes reality-TV stars, actors and actresses, singers and top athletes. But Purdy is the first double amputee to compete on the dance show. (Heather Mills, Paul McCartney's ex-wife, danced with one prosthetic leg in 2007.)


At 19, Purdy lost her legs just below the knee after she contracted bacterial meningitis. One day, she thought she had the flu. Within 24 hours, she was hospitalized and on life support. Purdy spent three weeks in a coma and was given a 2% chance of recovering.


She not only beat the odds but went on to become a motivational speaker, Paralympic snowboarder for Team USA and, now, a Dancing contender.


'I don't like saying she's a double amputee, implying that she's lost something,' Hough says. 'Rather, she has gained two prosthetics. That's what Amy is all about - seeing the glass half full.'


Hough flew to Sochi to get in some training time before the show starts, working around Purdy's snowboarding schedule. 'I'm very proud of her,' he says. 'The odds have been stacked against us with lack of rehearsal time and travel,' but 'it's amazing to see Amy's determination and drive.'


Conrad Green, Dancing's executive producer, says Purdy 'might surprise everyone.'


While Purdy may not be able to point her toes, she will be able to wear high heels like the other female dancers. 'I have an adjustable high-heel foot,' she explains, that can go up to 2.5 inches. 'I wear it for everything.'


Purdy has special 'legs' for snowboarding and another set for running. And now she has special legs for dancing.


During her first day of rehearsal in Sochi, she realized that her regular walking legs were not working for dancing. 'My calf muscles were wanting to expand, but they couldn't because they're in carbon fiber. So it was painful. I thought, 'This can't happen, or I'm not going to be able to do this.''


Luckily, there was a prosthetic shop at the Sochi Paralympics. 'They rounded out the insides of my legs for my calves to expand.' She's been able to pop into the shop whenever she's felt any discomfort.


And now, she says, she's not in any pain. 'I want to get that across. At this point, my legs fit well enough to do what I'm going to be doing. I'm snowboarding and dancing, and in between, I'm walking really far.'


She plans to wear sparkly, spangly costumes along with the rest of the Dancing gang. 'I know there will be a lot of focus on my legs. But my hope is that people see me as a dancer like anyone else who is going through this. My hope is that it's not all about my legs.'


Purdy realizes that she's on the world stage right now. But 'the media make it sound so tragic. Of course, I was 19 years old, and I suddenly lost my legs. It was extremely traumatic at the time, but I'm so beyond that. I've done so much with my life.'


Winning is her real focus now. She knows that Olympic gold-medal ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis seem to have the edge over everyone, but that's not going to stop her. 'I think people are going to expect them to do really well because this is what they do - they dance.' She adds, 'I love my Team USA family, but I'm going to do my best to beat them.'


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