Nicholas James Vujicic ( ; born 4 December 1982) is an Australian American

Christian evangelist In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

of Serbian descent, born with

tetra-amelia syndrome Tetra-amelia syndrome (''tetra-'' + '' amelia''), also called autosomal recessive tetraamelia, is an extremely rare autosomal recessive congenital disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Other areas of the body are also affected b ...

, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of arms and legs.

Early life

Vujicic was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, in 1982 to Dušanka and Borislav Vujičić, Serbian immigrants from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He was born without fully formed limbs and he was bullied at school because of it. At one point, he tried killing himself by drowning in his bathtub but it did not continue. According to his autobiography, his mother refused to see him or hold him when the nurse held him in front of her, and she and her husband went out of the hospital. Originally, the toes of one of his feet were fused. An operation was performed to separate the toes so that he can use them as fingers to grab. He refers to it as his chicken drumstick. He attended

Runcorn State High School Runcorn State High School is a government funded school located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1986 and has a population of about 1150 students in Years 7 to 12 (aged 12 to 17), 90+ teaching staff, and 40+ support staf ...

up in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and has made a couple of appearances there by doing speeches. When he was seventeen years old, Vujicic's mother showed him a newspaper article about a woman praying with a severe disability; he then started to give talks at his prayer group. Vujicic graduated from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

at the age of 21 with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree, with a

double major A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

and financial planning. Vujicic starred in the short film '' The Butterfly Circus''. At the 2010

Method Fest Independent Film Festival The Method Fest Independent Film Festival is an independent film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festiva ...

, he was awarded Best Actor in a Short Film for his starring performance as well.

Beliefs

On his webpages, in a self-formulated "Statement of Faith", Vujicic states his adherence to born-again Christianity.

Personal life

On 9 March 2002, he moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 2008 in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau l ...

, near

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, he met Kanae Miyahara. They married on February 12, 2012. The couple has two sons and two daughters, and reside in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Without any limbs, he is able to type 43 words per minute on a computer.

Books and publications

Vujicic's first book, ''Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life'', was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 2010 and has been translated into over 32 languages. * ''Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life'' (2010); * ''Your Life Without Limits'' (2012); * ''Limitless: Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life'' (2013); * ''Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action'' (2013); * ''The Power of Unstoppable Faith'' (2014); * ''Stand Strong'' (2015); * ''Love Without Limits'' (2016); * ''Be the Hands and Feet: Living Out God's Love for All His Children'', February 13, 2018;

References

External links