Waking up every morning as a guest in Salt Lake's Shriners' Hospital during the Olympics and Paralympics, Bonnie St. John has felt the nostalgia of her days as a five-year-old amputee going through physical rehabilitation. St. John recalls the relentless efforts of her nurse at the Shriners' Hospital in California: "She kept telling me, 'you have to push harder, you have to push harder.' She pushed me until I cried and I was miserable. She taught me some really important lessons. You have to be able to push through the pain."
And push she did. St. John pushed her way to a silver medal at the 1984 Paralympics, earned the coveted title of Rhodes Scholar, secured herself a position in the White House during the Clinton administration, and currently holds the role of inspirational speaker.
