a new hope

amanda speaks with a slight accent that is hard to place, a few dropped r's and some soft a's, her full australian accent buried beneath years of american influence. at full height, she stands about 5'7" and has the long, thick blond hair that hoards of women over the past decade have envied, one trip to the salon after another. at 40 years old, amanda has the spirit of a young girl, laughing contagiously and seemingly capable of taking on any situation with verve and determination, a smile perpetually tugging at her lips.

i'm planning to meet amanda on aspen's deeply powdered slopes tomorrow for a few runs. despite knowing her for four years, I have never ridden a double black—or a chairlift, for that matter—with amanda, but i'm eager to see her cruise. amanda sits in a chair specially designed and equipped with a single ski. reclining in her chair, she has two ski poles, one in each hand, and attached to the bottom of each pole is a smaller, single mini ski. for the past 18 years, amanda has been using her monoski to hit the slopes, her lower body always suspended above the snow, because she has no use of her legs.

on friday morning, amanda will board a flight headed to delhi, india. this trip will be amanda's second to india, as well as her second to visit dr. geeta shroff, an infertility specialist at delhi's nu tech mediworld. dr. shroff's knowledge of the human fertilization process has led her over the past decade into the controversial world of human embryonic stem-cell research, and because of the breakthroughs dr. shroff has made recently, a small window of hope has begun to open in amanda's life. during her first session with dr. shroff in the summer of 2007, amanda began to see the first signs in 17 years of an improved physical state. for the first time, amanda is able to crawl forwards and backwards, wiggle a few toes, and even control her own bowel movements—something she has not done since february 27, 1992, when a snowy mountainside tumble rendered her paralyzed from the waist down. now, with the help of a single embryonic cell, amanda is receiving treatment in a small, foreign hospital which, to much of the world, is still viewed with contempt and derision, and in some cases is dismissed altogether as the fluke of a veritable scientist gone mad.

but for amanda and scores of others from around the world who have made delhi their destination, hope is being restored. patients with challenges from across the spectrum, from diabetes to autism to brain and spinal-cord injuries, have received treatments from the very same, single human embryonic stem cell. and each of them—with varying degrees of challenges and improvements—has seen change, something that was previously deemed impossible. for amanda, the vision is quite clear: restored use of her legs is a possibility. one day, she may walk again.