Ever since my amputation a couple of years ago, I’ve pretty much lived in shorts most days. I hardly ever wear long pants. It actually started as a purely practical reason—I was a fan of “skinny pants,” and absolutely none of my old trousers would fit over the new prosthetic leg! More recently, though, I’ve discovered some genuine perks to having the leg on show. It makes life much easier at places like airports; when the security team needs to scan the prosthesis, having it visible from the get-go saves a lot of time and hassle. I’ve realised there’s a real advantage to just showing off the legs.
That’s why I found it so fascinating to chat with Sara Shams for my upcoming podcast, “The Limb Shift”. While I’ve embraced the “shorts life” out of necessity and convenience, Sara’s journey with visibility has been much more of a recent personal evolution.
Despite being a bilateral above-knee amputee since she was six years old, she spent decades hiding her prosthetic legs under long pants, stockings, and skirts. She didn’t want to be different; she just wanted to fit in.
The shift finally arrived only three years ago. Sara began questioning why she was hiding and what message that sent to other people with disabilities. She took a terrifying leap by posting a photo on Instagram wearing a skirt without stockings. To her surprise, “nothing happened”—except for a surge in encouragement and a new sense of worth.
https://www.instagram.com/nolegs_noworries/?hl=en
Sara’s story began in Bangladesh, where she was born with a condition called tibial hemimelia. Seeking better opportunities, her parents moved the family to New Zealand when she was six, where she underwent bilateral through-knee amputations.
Growing up presented some serious hurdles. As a child, Sara hated her prosthetics because she could “zoom around” much faster on her knees. Starting high school brought bullying, which caused her self-confidence to tank and led her to hide her legs for years. As a woman of colour with a disability, Sara also felt she didn’t meet the narrow beauty standards seen in the media, which deeply hurt her self-esteem.
I absolutely loved chatting with Sara. Her energy is infectious, and her approach to life is incredibly empowering. She is now a pharmacist, model, and consultant, using her lived experience through her business, to help organisations move toward authentic inclusion.
As Sara says: “It’s okay for us to be different. It’s okay for us to ask for help”.
This interview will be a key part of The Limb Shift, my podcast series launching later this year.
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