Reporter: Peter Overton
Producers: Hugh Nailon and Julia Timms
It's an over-worked word, but there's no other way to describe Nick Vujicic.
He really is inspiring.
Nick was born without arms or legs. And when he tells the story of his birth, the shock, the confusion suffered by his parents, he'll have you in tears.
Growing up wasn't all that much fun, either.
So how did this poor little aussie kid do so well, become school captain, go to uni, get a double degree and set himself up in a really great job?
That's the story we're about to tell. A message of hope that's helped teenagers all over the world cope with their problems. A message you'll never forget.
Story contacts:
If you want to contact Nick, or find out more information please visit the website: www.lifewithoutlimbs.org
Special feature:
Slideshow: No Limbs, No Limits
Full transcript:
NICK VUJICIC: Should jump in, mate.
PETER OVERTON: Nick Vujicic was born with no legs and no arms...
NICK VUJICIC: I'm going out on a limb, what do you want?
PETER OVERTON: ..but he's sure got plenty of guts.
NICK VUJICIC: This is scary right here, mate. This is where you've got to have guts... ..or you're a bit crazy.
PETER OVERTON: 10!
NICK VUJICIC: Nice, mate. Thank you very much, you're a generous judge.
PETER OVERTON: This 25-year-old Australian is climbing over every obstacle life puts in front of him and he's doing it with style. You really can do anything, can't you?
NICK VUJICIC: Well, there's no harm in believing so. Everybody's going through something, you know, we are all going through something. It's just my pain is a bit more visible than yours or somebody else. When that clicked, it was like a light bulb went... ..just flashed in my brain. I'm like "Hey, now life I see as an opportunity." "This circumstance, there's gotta be something good."
PETER OVERTON: No arms, no legs...
NICK VUJICIC: No worries, mate!
PETER OVERTON: So do you see yourself as a disabled person?
NICK VUJICIC: I know I have no arms, no legs, but the definition of disability is something stopping you from being able to do something. In my life, there's hardly anything I've found that I can't do.
PETER OVERTON: Even golf?
NICK VUJICIC: Even golf.
PETER OVERTON: Think we're getting a bit of control here.
NICK VUJICIC: Should I take over?
PETER OVERTON: No. Nick is an inspiration with a phenomenal passion for life that's intoxicating for everyone who meets him. Give me five, man!
NICK VUJICIC: I feel like I'm enjoying life, my life, more than the average person out there, that I'm achieving more things than the average 25-year-old. It's great! I'm fulfilling my dreams, man.
PETER OVERTON: Those dreams brought Nick to America 18 months ago. In a short time he has become a smash hit as a preacher and motivational speaker. The secret to his success here is his Aussie accent and the ability to laugh at his lot in life.
NICK VUJICIC: When you see me from the outside of a vehicle you have no idea that I have no limbs. We were at the traffic lights and this car comes up next to us and this girl was looking at me. So I look at her and she looks at me, and I'm like, "Cool let's have some fun here." I grab the seat belt in my mouth and I loosen it like this and in the car seat I just did this, and she was like,"oooooohhhhh!" It was awesome.
PETER OVERTON: Humour underpins everything for you. Humour and your message.
NICK VUJICIC: You know if I start feeling sorry for myself then I know that, you know, if I've got a sad face, you know "Poor guy", but if they see a guy you know, who's able to joke about himself... It's good to laugh once in a while, mate. It's a good relief, it's really... I mean to be able to laugh at life that's what I've found that I can now accomplish. There were many times I couldn't do that.
PETER OVERTON: Nick was born in Melbourne in 1982, the long-awaited first child of Boris and Dushka Vujicic.
NICK VUJICIC: When I was born the doctor's held me low enough so she couldn't see me as soon as I was born and she heard me cry but obviously she saw a worried look on the doctor's face. He went pale, my dad looked over and, you know, his face colour changed as well and my mum was like, "What's going on? What happened?"
PETER OVERTON: It's a question that's never been answered. Nick's birth confounded the doctors then, and still does. So this was never detected on ultrasounds?
NICK VUJICIC: Correct.
PETER OVERTON: Your mum... medication while she was pregnant with you?
NICK VUJICIC: No. No medication. Wasn't thalidomide, that was a decade before I was born and so she knew all about that. She didn't even take Panadol or any pain killers while she had a headache and not a touch of anything else that might harm her pregnancy.
PETER OVERTON: It took a while for your parents to accept their baby boy like you are?
NICK VUJICIC: Yes, I mean, I couldn't imagine the shock, the grief, the natural feelings of guilt, anger, confusion.
PETER OVERTON: It sounds like a period of mourning for them.
NICK VUJICIC: Oh, it was. For about four months. It was hard you know, when I was born my mum didn't even get flowers from anybody you know. You get a first-born son and no-one sent any flowers.
PETER OVERTON: But despite his lack of limbs Nick was a perfectly healthy baby and with sheer will he adapted to everyday life. It's that same perseverance and imagination that drives him today. That foot of yours is amazing.
PETER OVERTON: Isn't it! You know, without it... I'm so thankful for this little thing. One day I broke it, I sprained it, I didn't break it, but I was playing soccer one day I sprained my foot I couldn't walk on it for three weeks. Talk about feeling disabled!
PETER OVERTON: I suppose having that foot also at least gives you something I take for granted which is a sense of touch and feel.
NICK VUJICIC: This is true, because I think because I have less body surface, my skin is more sensitive than other people's and it definitely gives me that sense of touch. It's quite funny Having half the blood volume in my body everything hits me twice as hard as well - sugar, caffeine or alcohol hits me twice as hard.
PETER OVERTON: whiling away some time on the water gives Nick a sense of control and independence. Very impressive.
NICK VUJICIC: Look at that! That is perfect!
PETER OVERTON: Well done. You'll be able to drive a Manly Ferry soon. It's something he's always craved - as a teenager. he was determined to do things his way to lighten the burden on his parents. These days his life is so busy he's had to employ a full-time carer to speed up the process. But he doesn't need anyone to help him with his emails. Do you pray for arms and legs?
NICK VUJICIC: Every now and then I do, I do pray for arms and legs. I do have faith that God can, right now in front of us, just come down with his light or whatever and bang! I have arms and legs. But the joy of having no limbs and being able to be used in such a unique way and powerful way for people like... you can't give me any amount of money to even consider taking a magical pill to have arms and legs right now. I am here tonight to tell you this - that no matter who you are no matter what you are going through that God knows it, he is with you, he is going to pull you through.
PETER OVERTON: Nick's disability has become his drawcard. On the spiritual circuit his ministry 'Life without Limbs' is now one of the biggest shows in town. So far he has visited 14 countries and spoken to 2 million people. Six years ago you were speaking to 300 year-10 students at a school in Brisbane?
NICK VUJICIC: That's right.
PETER OVERTON: What's the biggest crowd you've spoken to today.
NICK VUJICIC: Now, 110,000 people. Yeah, that was in India, it was incredible. Talk about nervous, my palms were sweaty. It was...
PETER OVERTON: Your palms were sweaty!
NICK VUJICIC: No, but it was amazing.
PETER OVERTON: And how many people did you hug that night of the 110,000?
NICK VUJICIC: We didn't 'cause I know they would probably take me home and I couldn't say anything about it.
PETER OVERTON: But you love hugging don't you?
NICK VUJICIC: love hugs, yeah.
PETER OVERTON: Well, you can't shake hands.
NICK VUJICIC: No, no I think it's a waste of time. I love hugs. I mean, I think it's a great ice breaker as well and it's my way of physically connecting with people. Can I give you a hug? The day I joined Nick at a Los Angeles church I witnessed the impact he has. What are the people in this very, very long queue wanting to tell you and what are they saying?
NICK VUJICIC: Sometimes they actually open up and tell me the deepest of secrets just, they feel comfortable around me and to share just what their brokenness is in their life.
PETER OVERTON: And what do the kids say to you?
NICK VUJICIC: Oh they, they love the jokes. You know they touch my little foot down here and we you know, you know give high-five's and 'give me some skin' sort of thing you know. But the kids, I love the humour and they just, it's a "wow" thing as well, but I think a lot of teenagers. though, are deeply touched. It matters how you are going to finish. Are you going to finish strong?
PETER OVERTON: His appeal to teenagers caps a remarkable turnaround from his school years - a time where he was ridiculed and tormented and suicidal.
NICK VUJICIC: There was one day I remember when I was six years old I had a very, very hard day at school and I'd just you know, hear their voices echoing in my mind that night and I got up out of my bed, I looked in the mirror and said "Okay Nick", I'm talking to myself, I'm saying - "Nick, what do you have that is good that no-one can change, "that no one can argue with?" and I just wanted something, just give me something to hold onto. There's gotta be something good about me. And I looked myself in my eyes and I said - "Hey, you've got some good looking eyes."
PETER OVERTON: That you do.
NICK VUJICIC: Thank you.
PETER OVERTON: So your eyes are your limbs, in a way? When you look at evangelists, they talk like this, don't they? Do you use your eyes to talk?
NICK VUJICIC: That's what they say about the eyes the eyes are the windows to your soul. When they see love resound in your eyes and when they see that there's something, something different about you not just your smile but there's this joy in your eyes, this sparkle, this this passion for living that's contagious and all of a sudden people are jealous of a man without arms and legs and that spins me out.
PETER OVERTON: When you first meet Nick, you can be forgiven for feeling a bit awkward. How heavy are you?
NICK VUJICIC: 34kg.
PETER OVERTON: But it takes only a moment for him to embrace you and put you at ease.
NICK VUJICIC: I love you Peter. (Peter laughs) As for romance - well, he's dated a few girls, but at the moment he's a single man. He hopes the future will bring marriage and more. I'll put you on the dry (sand).
NICK VUJICIC: Oh, thanks mate.
PETER OVERTON: Kids one day?
NICK VUJICIC: Absolutely. Yeah, medically I can have kids. Well I'm not gonna be pregnant but yeah, I see kids definitely in my life, yeah. I can't wait to be a father.
PETER OVERTON: What do you look forward to most if you can be a dad, or when you become a Dad?
NICK VUJICIC: We're gonna be able to hug and play you know, but I think it's just gonna be a crazy day me walking my daughter down the aisle, that's going to be precious.
PETER OVERTON: When he was born it was considered a disaster. Shock for the doctors, confusion and grief for his parents. But what Nick Vujicic achieved so far in his life is truly inspirational. His story touched me, and he hopes to tell it to many, many more.
NICK VUJICIC: I wanna reach the world, I really do. As many as possible and I'll do this till the day I die, mate, I know it.
PETER OVERTON: Really?
NICK VUJICIC: Yep. Yes.
PETER OVERTON: You wanna speak to millions and millions and millions?
NICK VUJICIC: Yes.
PETER OVERTON: Well, I love how you dream big.
NICK VUJICIC: Why not mate, that's the message. If a man without arms and legs is dreaming big why can't we, why can't we all?
