Ukrainian Orphan Who Became Famous US Paralympian After Adoption Credits Mom for Achievements | “Wouldn’t Have Been Alive”

“My mother is my inspiration and she’s my hero, because she literally saved my life from the orphanage,” the 33-year-old athlete shared.

Cover Image Source: Instagram | oksanamasters

By Shruti Menon

June 15, 2023

Posted June 15, 2023

Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine in 1989 and was given up by her biological mother to an orphanage. Masters spent seven painful years there where she endured malnourishment and emotional and physical abuse. She also suffered severe physical defects most likely related to radiation poisoning from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Her mother was likely exposed to radiation three years before her birth.

Ever since she was born she had to beat all odds. Masters was born with webbed fingers, missing thumbs, a single kidney, a partially missing stomach, and missing shinbones that caused problems with her legs. As she grew older she had to undergo her first of two leg amputations at just 9 years old.

“I was a super active kid, so I’ve always been aware of where my body is in space, and I think when I had my legs amputated, it makes you more aware of your body and because I don’t use my legs, I use more of my hands,” Masters told PEOPLE. “So when I’m at home, I take my legs off, I will scoot around with my arms. So my arms in general I think are used to propelling me and using that as my legs.”

The 33-year-old ended up representing the USA in the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2020 Paralympic Games. She took part in cross-country skiing and hand cycling. She has a huge list of accolades in her sports career including 17 Paralympic medals. She won 2 gold medals in para-cycling in the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

According to the official Olympics website, she is the most decorated US Winter Paralympian ever. Having won seven medals in Beijing, including 3 Gold. She's also won more medals than 37 of the 46 nations competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, per NBC.

The athlete believes she got a second chance at life thanks to American speech therapy professor Gay Masters who adopted her and brought her to the states. “My mother is my inspiration and she’s my hero, because she literally saved my life from the orphanage,” Masters of Louisville, Kentucky shared. “They said if I stayed in the orphanage for another month or so, I basically would not have been able to be alive. I would not have any of my accomplishments that I’ve had if it wasn’t for her.”

It's not been an easy journey but her mother couldn't be more proud of her. “Love is not the only answer,” Gay Masters, a speech and language pathologist at the University of Louisville told the New York Times. “You have to really work hard to help them trust and grow. But she came with so much spunk, I just got out of her way."

Masters has also opened up about the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse she endured in Ukraine. In Survivor, a video published on the Players’ Tribune website, she revealed why she wanted to share her story. “I just thought I would be able to help other girls, other kids who live in orphanages who went through this and didn’t know how to heal. And the power of sport – that’s what sports gave me, it gave me my way to heal and let everything out and find myself and rediscover myself in a positive way. And change the narrative of my story,” she said.