i never considered myself unique, but people are constantly telling me, you are a miracle. to me, i was just an ordinary guy with realistic goals and big dreams. i was a 19-year-old student at the university of texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my big dream of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
我從未覺得自己與眾不同，但人們常對我說：你的生命是個奇蹟。對我而言，我只是一個普通人，有著現實的目標和遠大的`理想。我曾是德克薩斯大學一名十九歲的大學生，在通向理想之路上信步前行，夢想有一天我會成為一名整形外科醫生。
on the night of february 17, 1981 i was studying for an organic chemistry test at the library with sharon, my girlfriend of three years. sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. we got into my car, not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again. i quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered on empty so i pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy 2.00 worth of gas. ll be back in two minutes, i yelled at sharon as i closed the door. but instead, those two minutes changed my life forever.
1981年2月17日的晚上，我和交往三年的女友沙倫在為有機化學測試做準備。因為太晚了，沙倫叫我駕車把她送回宿舍。我們鑽進汽車，誰能想到在今後的生命中我不能再如此矯健地重複這樣一個簡單的動作。我很快發現油表空了，於是我把車泊在附近的一家便利店旁，想買兩塊錢的汽油。我兩分鐘就回來，我關上車門朝沙倫喊到。但就是這短短的兩分鐘改變了我一生的命運，永遠地改變了。
