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Shattering Expectations with Bayar Damdinjav of the Mongolian Consulate
No Barriers
English - September 23, 2022 17:34 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 80 ratingsGovernment Society & Culture inspiration overcoming barriers reality adaptive athlete interviews erik weihenmayer jeff evans Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Our guest today grew up in rural Mongolia; hundreds of miles from anything resembling an advanced health care facility. So when his legs stopped working as a young boy; finding out the reason would not be easy. The family began their quest by traversing over 400 miles across Mongolia without a paved road in sight making their way to the capital city. They found new jobs and connected their son with the best health care available at the time. 3 years later they still had no answer. In fact in took 7 years until our guest, Bayar Damdinjav, received his diagnosis of an incurable auto-immune disease.
The pivotal moment in Bayar’s life was when he decided to move back home to eastern Mongolia and attempt to be a normal teenager, which at that point involved going to high school. Nothing in his town was built for someone in a wheelchair. No sidewalks, no paved roads, no ramps, or elevators. Academically, there would be a lot of catching up to do, as he hadn’t attended school in 3 years. The odds were stacked against him. What he’s accomplished since then, might surprise you.